Hamas cynically forced former hostage Keith Siegel to write ‘thank you letter’ to captors before release

Hamas on Sunday published a letter purportedly written by former Israeli hostage Keith Siegel before his release, in which he thanked his captors and criticized the Israeli government.

Siegel’s family requested that Israeli media not reproduce the letter. “The Hamas terrorists who held Keith forced him to write them a detailed ‘thank you’ letter. This is one of many examples of Hamas’ cruel and cynical behavior, and the urgency of returning all the hostages back to Israel.”

According to Walla News, the letter contains translation errors that indicate Siegel, a dual US-Israeli citizen, was dictated a text in Arabic which he was forced to translate into Hebrew.

In the letter dated to Jan. 18, Siegel states that his captors treated him well and thanked them for “guarding” him. In addition, the letter attacked the Israeli government for causing “unnecessary damage to both sides” by refusing a hostage deal.

Over the past months, Hamas repeatedly used propaganda videos of hostages criticizing the government as a tool of psychological warfare against Israel.

Hamas later released video footage of the release of Siegel, Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderon last Saturday. The video shows Siegel putting finishing touches on the letter before signing the “release documents” produced by Hamas for all hostages released during this hostage deal.

He was also forced to record a video message thanking his captors and wishing them well for the future.

During this month’s hostage deal, Hamas also gave the hostages “gift bags.” In another cynical move, Siegel was given two bags, one for his wife Aviva who was kidnapped with him and released during the first hostage deal in Nov. 2023.

Siegel was also ordered to write: “My guards during this period took care of all my needs, food and drink, medicine, vitamins, eye drops, a blood pressure measuring device and more. They also made sure I got a doctor's checkup when I felt unwell for a long time… They made sure I had food that suited my health needs.”

After his release, Siegel recounted that despite being a vegetarian, he ate meat on the rare occasions he had the opportunity, as he was given very little food.

The last time he ate before his release was Friday afternoon, he said. During the release on Saturday, Siegel appeared frail and thin and had to be helped up and down the stairs to the stage put up by Hamas for the ceremony.