Tel Aviv, Israel

The wife of an American hostage held by Palestinian militant organisation Hamas in Gaza has pleaded with negotiators to bring her husband back. Aviva Siegel, a former hostage herself, reacted to a video released by the Gaza-based group in April, saying, “I just saw the picture. He looks terrible. His bones are out, and you can see that he’s lost a lot of weight.”

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Siegel told US news outlet New York Post that she was worried about “what kind of Keith Siegel (her husband) that we’re going to get back.” “He doesn’t look like himself. And I’m just so worried about him, because so [many] days and minutes have passed since that video that we received,” she added.

She added that she was also worried about all hostages, as the conditions that they are facing are the worst any human can ever go through.

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“I was there. I touched death. I know what it feels being underneath the ground with no oxygen. Keith and I were just left there. We were left there to die,” the woman said, recalling her own experience while being in captivity.

The couple was abducted by Hamas militants during Oct 7 attack from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. They remained together in Gaza for 51 days, until Aviva was freed in November last year under a hostage exchange deal. After her release, Aviva said she had a terrible stomach infection while being hostage and fell extremely ill.

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Now, Aviva has been fighting for her husband’s release for months. She has already met top officials in the US as well as Israel and has travelled to the US as many as nine times this year alone.

“I just hope that he’s with other people from Israel, and if he has them, he’s going to be okay,” Aviva said. “He’s just the person that will make them feel that they’re together. That’s what he did when I was there – he was 100% for me and the hostages that we were with.”

(With inputs from agencies)