Two former hostages abducted by Hamas have welcomed a new grandchild to the world, with a picture of them smiling down as they cradle the baby shared on social media.
Aviva and Keith Siegel, who are both in their sixties, were abducted from their home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the October 7 2023 terror attacks.
Aviva was freed in November 2023 after 51 days in captivity, while Keith, a dual US-Israeli national, was released on February 1 2025, after 484 days.
Hamas captivity survivors Aviva and Keith Siegel, who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023, have welcomed a new grandchild: their daughter Shir has given birth to a baby girl. Keith survived 484 days in Hamas captivity and was released on February 1, 2025. Aviva was released in November 2023. From darkness to new life. Mazel tov to the Siegel family!
The couple’s daughter, Shir, had got engaged to her partner, Yuval Bar-On, a month before the October 7 massacres and refused to hold the ceremony until both her parents had been returned from captivity.
In August 2025, the young couple married with both the elder Siegels in attendance.
Posting an image on Instagram of the chuppah at the time, the newlywed wrote: "My wish came true."
Now, the Siegels have been photographed holding their daughter’s firstborn child in their arms. Campaign group Stand With Us, which shared the image, wrote: “From darkness to new life. Mazel tov to the Siegel family.”
Speaking together at Limmud Festival last year, the couple shared some of the details of their incarceration in Gaza.
Aviva told attendees: “Keith washed himself three times because in Gaza, there was hardly an opportunity to wash. I washed just a couple of times while I was there. I can’t explain how dirty you are, and you are wearing the same clothes for all that time.”
Describing being forced into a tunnel by the terrorists Aviva, Aviva, who described herself as someone who was “scared of everything”, said: “When I went downstairs [into the tunnel], I was shaking; it felt like there was a knife in my heart. I thought I was going to die.”
A kindergarten teacher on the kibbutz, Aviva said she also tried to keep her panic at bay by going through the names of the children she taught, by counting slowly to herself and repeating the nursery rhyme “One, two, buckle my shoe”.
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