(NewsNation) — Former Hamas hostage Keith Siegel has revealed more about his time being held captive by the terrorist group.
Siegel was kidnapped Oct. 7, 2023, and held captive for 484 days before being released Feb. 1 with two other hostages. He was the first American to be freed. Siegel lost 110 pounds during his captivity.
Siegel joined NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Wednesday night to to talk about how he and other hostages were denied food, saying it was important that the truth about Hamas is known.
“Hamas was eating to their heart’s content,” Siegel said. “Their decision was to keep me captive and deny me of basic human rights, deny me of my freedom.”
Israel has previously accused Hamas of purposefully withholding food and other aid from going into Gaza, and disputed claims of using starvation.
When asked about how he’s feeling following his released and being back in the U.S., Siegel said he’s lucky to have been returned alive, and thanked President Donald Trump for his efforts to bring him and the other hostages back.
Siegel said he’s now working to be part of the release of the remaining 59 hostages left in Gaza, including 21-year-old Israeli-American Edan Alexander.
“I think about them and I worry about them every day,” Siegel said.