Freed American hostage Keith Siegel says Hamas must be stripped

A former Israeli-American hostage echoed the Trump administration’s call for Hamas to be demilitarized and stripped of power in Gaza — as hundreds joined together in Central Park on Sunday to call for a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal to end the captives’ nightmare.Keith Siegel, 66, said he was hopeful that President Trump’s 20-point peace plan could bring back the remaining 48 hostages suffering under Hamas’ cruelty, adding that those living in Israel after the Oct.

7, 2023, terrorist attack cannot feel safe until the terror group is eliminated.“This fanatic terror organization must be stripped,” Siegel told The Post after addressing the crowd in New York City.“They cannot pose a threat to anybody in the future.” Although Sunday’s rally has taken place every week since the hostages were kidnapped, the latest demonstration comes as the war approaches its two-year anniversary on Tuesday — all while Israel and Hamas negotiate the terms of Trump’s peace deal.Both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Hamas has signaled the acceptance of the broader terms of the deal, with the American leaders warning Sunday that the terror group must comply with ceding their weapons and control over Gaza or face “complete obliteration.” “If we never want to see this happen again, meaning a war like this, you can never have another October 7 or anything like it happen again,” Rubio told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And that’s the thing the president has reiterated and repeatedly made clear to our partners in the region,” he added.

Siegel, who was freed back in February during a short-lived cease-fire, agreed that Hamas cannot remain in Gaza after all the pain the terror group has inflicted in the region.While at Central Park, Siegel recounted the barbarity he witnessed during his 484 days in captivity, where he was kept inside Hamas’ cramped and dark tunnel network for days at a time, the majority of which he spent alone.“...