LONDON — American Keith Siegel has been released from captivity Saturday morning.
His release took place in Gaza City where he was taken onto a stage wearing a cap, flanked by masked and armed Hamas forces with the waters of the Mediterranean and the destroyed port behind them.
A crowd watched calmly from a short distance away while Hamas photographers on stage and drones above filmed the release.
Siegel walked on his own power, and he will now undergo medical checks before being reunited with his family shortly.
“According to information communicated by the Red Cross, one hostage was transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” read a joint statement from the IDF and the ISA.
Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters escorts American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Gaza City on February 1, 2025, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)
Omar Al-qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier on Saturday, two other hostages were turned over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas.
Both walked onto a stage flanked by armed and masked Hamas fighter and then taken into waiting while Red Cross SUVs where they were driven out and handed over to Israeli authorities.
The release on Saturday has looked different from previous releases and was done more orderly with the crowd kept back at a distance.
Keith Siegel, who is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage along with his wife, Aviva Siegel in 2023. She was released during the brief 2023 ceasefire and has waged a long campaign to free her husband and the other hostages.
