US President Donald Trump, on Tuesday (Apr 8), honoured the freed hostages, Iair Horn, Keith Siegel and Aviva Siegel, as he addressed the National Republican Congressional Committee.

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As he invited them on the stage, Trump said, “Hamas is just a disaster, their level of hatred.”

Pointing at the group of hostages released from the Palestinian militant group's captivity, whom he hosted in the Oval Office, the US president said that what the captives had to go through during their captivity was "horrible".  

“These people [the ex-captives], what they had to go through… is just horrible,” he added.

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Trump then greeted the three hostages and invited them to the podium.

“You saved the lives of 33 hostages,” Israeli-American Keith Siegel told the crowd, referring to the ones released during the first phase of the truce deal. “You set the hostage crisis at the highest priority. You got 33 of us home alive. We all owe our lives to you.”

He urged Trump to “please continue your tremendous efforts and tremendous actions and tremendous accomplishments. We’ll get, with your help, all of the remaining 59 hostages still in Gaza back home.”

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'We need you to bring all the hostages home'

Aviva Siegel urged Trump to bring the remaining hostages home.

“We need you to bring all the hostages home. There are 24 that are alive and 59 to come home to their families, just like I received Keith,” she said, stating that Iair Horn's brother Eitan was still in Hamas' captivity.

“I’ve been in hell for 498 days. I’ve been held in hell with Hamas terrorists,” Horn said.

“We didn’t see the light but… when we heard President Trump get elected, we knew, we knew, that there’s now someone who makes things happen,” he said.

“We are here because of President Trump,” Horn stated. “It’s really surreal to be here, you know. I’m a simple man, I’m running the bar in the kibbutz, in Nir Oz, where I lived. And now I’m here with President Trump, who is running the world.”

Expressing gratitude to Trump, Horn said that he would continue to push for the release of his brother and all the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

“In a few days, we mark the Passover… I hope he [Eitan] can sit with us at the seder of Passover,” Horn added.

(With inputs from agencies)