American-Israeli Keith Segal, alongside Israeli Yarden Bibas and French Israeli Ofer Calderon, were released from Hamas captivity over Shabbat. According to various reports in the media, the three men were tortured, both physically and psychologically.
By Rachel Avraham
American-Israeli Keith Segal, alongside Israeli Yarden Bibas and French Israeli Ofer Calderon, were released from Hamas captivity over Shabbat. According to various reports in the media, the three men were tortured, both physically and psychologically. The Jerusalem Post reported that the hostages were made to do forced labor and were only taken out once a day to eat with other captives. Many were forced to wear traditional gallabiyahs and, instead of showers, were given cloths soaked in cold water to wipe themselves down. Several lost more than 30 pounds due to starvation.
Released hostage Yarden Bibas was especially tormented by his Hamas captors about the fate of his wife and children during his 484 days in Hamas captivity, the Jewish Chronicle reported. The Hamas terrorists would talk to him incessantly about his family, the Times of Israel reported. To add insult to injury, the Hamas terrorists forced Bibas to participate in a Hamas propaganda video, where he was told that his family was killed in an Israeli air strike, while he is seen begging for their bodies to be returned to Israel and blaming Netanyahu for their deaths. To date, we do not know if his wife and children are alive. Efforts to obtain this information have so far failed, despite repeated attempts.
Yarden, his wife Shiri 32, and their two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who, at the time, were 9 months and four years old, were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre. Yarden was wounded and taken captive, and his wife and children were abducted separately. A video of Shiri, stricken with terror, clinging onto her two red-headed children while being abducted, is one of the most widespread footages of the October 7 massacre. Since that date, no sign of life has been made available.
During his early days in captivity, Yarden was held with Calderon and learned Arabic. According to the Jewish Chronicle, both Calderone and Bibas were beaten multiple times and held in cages as punishment for opposing their Hamas captives. Keith Segal, in contrast, was held mostly in tunnels and various apartments. According to the Jerusalem Post, he lost a significant amount of weight due to a severe lack of food. His family told N12 News that he never received meals on a regular schedule and was often left starving. A lifelong vegetarian, he was forced to eat meat to survive.
“Hamas terrorists forced Keith to write them a detailed thank you letter while holding him captive,” Keith Segal’s family told the Times of Israel. “This is just one example of many that demonstrates Hamas’s cruel and cynical behavior, and highlights the urgency of bringing all remaining hostages back home.”
During his handover to the Red Cross, Segal appeared thin and pale but was able to walk, aided by masked and armed Hamas terrorists, the Times of Israel reported. According to the report, he was forced to accept two Hamas “gift bags” and a lanyard around his neck with a Palestinian flag and the insignia of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades. He was also forcibly paraded on a Hamas stage in front of a banner proclaiming “Nazi Zionism will not win.”
Siegal was kidnapped from Kfar Aza together with his wife Aviva on October 7. His wife was released in the previous cease-fire. However, Siegel did not know for months what had happened to his son, Shai, who was with him in Kibbutz Kfar Azza on October 7. He only learned his son was alive when he heard his voice on the radio. For him, this was another form of psychological torture and he was not the only hostage to have this experience.
Calderón also managed to listen to radio reports while in captivity, the Jerusalem Post noted. Two weeks before his release, according to N12 News, he saw his uncle speaking on Gazan television but had no idea whether one of his children was still alive until shortly before his return to Israel. Calderon was abducted along with two of his four children, Erez and Sahar, but was kept in Gaza when they were released during a week-long truce in November 2023, the Times of Israel reported.
According to Channel 12 News, Hamas captors repeatedly told the hostages they would be freed “tomorrow,” but after the hostages realized they were being deceived, the captors mocked them. Therefore, when they were told again that they would be released, they didn’t believe it until the very last moment. Some hostages were reportedly held for long periods in damp tunnels with little air, Haaretz reported.
The newly revealed details also expose how Hamas frequently moved the hostages between locations, both above and below ground, to evade Israeli forces, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to the report, those freed this weekend—Siegel, Yarden Bibas, and Calderon—survived 484 days in captivity, enduring conditions that medical professionals say have left lasting physical and psychological scars.
