Aviva Siegel, a 62-year-old former Israeli detainee who was released from Gaza after 51 days while her husband Keith remains captive, has launched a sharp attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Siegel accused Netanyahu of pursuing personal glory by seeking victory in the war at the expense of the hostages.
Speaking to the American channel "PBS NewsHour," Siegel expressed her concerns: "I have a feeling that Netanyahu wants to keep the war going because he wants to win the war. But he can't keep the war going and get the hostages out at the same time. He needs to go to a ceasefire and then get them out," she stated. Siegel fears that the Israeli government's desire to win the war in Gaza is overshadowing the urgency to rescue the hostages.
The captive Hagar Broaditch (Social Media)
Siegel continued, insisting that Netanyahu needs to reach a ceasefire and then extract the hostages. "It should be done now as fast as possible because 88 days are enough," she said.
Asked whether she believes Netanyahu is prioritizing winning the war over repatriating the hostages, Siegel replied, "I have a feeling that this is the reason the war continues, as he wants to win the war."
Siegel also spoke about her husband Keith: "I am strong for Keith right now, but I want him back. He is 64 years old, he has health problems and he needs to be out now, along with all the other hostages."
Siegel's comments come about a week after another former Israeli detainee, who was also released by Hamas, revealed that the Israeli military had bombed their place of detention in Gaza, where she was with her children, despite knowing of their presence there, causing them injuries.
Hagar Broaditch relayed to Channel 12 Israel the harrowing experience of being subjected to intense bombardment by the Israeli military. Having returned from Gaza, she concluded that repatriating the hostages was not the Israeli government's top priority under Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. "I realized when I came back (from Gaza) that we were not the first priority for the government of Israel at all, but rather the first thing was to defeat Hamas and then bring back the kidnapped," Broaditch stated.
"The army bombed a building close to where we were, all the windows blew out, and the walls fell down. By miracle, the five of us came out with only minor injuries," she recounted. "On Monday, October 9, the Israeli military bombed us, and all the time there was shelling close to us."
The former Gaza detainee Raz Ben-Ami had called on Netanyahu's government to urgently finalize a prisoner exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" in Gaza. This request followed revelations that 3 Israeli hostages were killed by the occupation army's fire during its advance in the sector.
Families of Israeli prisoners are demanding that Netanyahu's government establish a ceasefire in Gaza and exchange their loved ones for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.
Since October 7, the Israeli military has waged a devastating war on Gaza, resulting in 22,313 fatalities and 57,296 injuries as of Wednesday, the majority of whom are children and women. There have been massive infrastructural damages and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the sector's authorities and the United Nations.
