Freed hostage asked Hamas to free her 65-year-old neighbor in place of her

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

Before she was released from Gaza last week, Emily Damari asked her captors for a favor: to let her neighbor Keith Siegel go free instead.

That’s according to a report in Israeli media on Friday, five days after Damari was released and on the eve of a second expected release of Israeli hostages from Gaza.

Siegel, 65, and Damari were both taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, from Kfar Aza, the kibbutz of roughly 760 people in southern Israel where they lived.

Damari, 28, is the same age as one of Siegel’s four children; his wife Aviva was also abducted but released in November 2023 during a temporary ceasefire.

The request was denied, according to the report, which first aired on Israel’s Channel 12.

Israel and Hamas agreed on a schedule for the release of 33 hostages, most of them alive, over six weeks as part of a ceasefire deal; the schedule calls for women to be released first, followed by older and sick men, including Siegel.

The report suggests that at least some remaining hostages are being kept together and offers new evidence that Siegel is alive inside Gaza.

An immigrant from the United States, Siegel appeared in a hostage video released by Hamas last April. His mother died in December in North Carolina, where he grew up.

Since her release, Damari has become a symbol in Israel because she returned with bandages making her injured hand resemble the “rock on” emoji.

Among those welcoming her as she was driven back into Israel was Keith Siegel’s daughter Shir, who posted on Instagram later that night, “I am speechless. … My sister is home. I hugged her. It’s real. She came back to us. Thank God.”