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Freed American-Israeli Hostage Praises Trump, Urges US President to Continue Pushing Until All Captives Released
US President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli who was recently released from Gaza as part of the ongoing Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, lauded US President Donald Trump’s successful efforts to secure the release of hostages in a new video, urging Trump to continue fighting until the remaining captives are freed from the enclave.
“President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive. You are the reason I was reunited with my beloved wife, four children, and five grandchildren. Thank you,” Siegel said in the video released by his family and hostage advocacy groups. “Thank you for your continued fight against terror and for your bold leadership that has brought me and many others back home, to our families, to safety and to security.”
Siegel, 65, pressed Trump to continue his work on securing the freedom of the remaining captives in Gaza. He touted Trump’s “strength and leadership” while urging the US president to “put an end to the unnecessarily daily dangers” endured by the hostages.
“Mr. President, once again your leadership, power, and authority are necessary to enforce the ceasefire and put an end to the unnecessary daily dangers to the lives of innocent hostages and civilians. Your leadership and strength will ensure the agreement is honored by all sides,” Siegel said “That is what will allow all 76 hostages to return home to their families. I trust your strength and leadership, Mr. President. The helpless hostages in the dark, cold tunnels in Gaza also trust you.”
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Friday announced the next three hostages set for release from Gaza on Saturday, at least for the moment preserving the fragile ceasefire from collapse.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying Israel accepted the list of names, but that was later corrected to say Israel had simply “received” the list.
“This was a mere factual description that does not reflect an Israeli comment on the issue,” the updated statement noted
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the neighboring enclave. The conflict raged for nearly 16 months until both sides agreed to last month’s ceasefire and hostage-release deal, the first phase of which is set to last six weeks.
Siegel wrote that while in Gaza he “lived in constant fear” and was “starved and tortured, both physically and emotionally” by Hamas.
Trump made returning the hostages and punishing Hamas a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. He had repeatedly criticized his predecessor, former US President Joe Biden, for allegedly impeding Israel’s ability to successfully defeat Hamas and securing the release of the hostages in Gaza.
Under phase one of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group agreed to free a total of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, and in exchange, Israel would release over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are serving life sentences for terrorist activity. Thus far, 16 of the 33 hostages have been released from Gaza during the first phase.
Last week, Hamas threatened to renege on its agreement to release a new batch of hostages from the coastal enclave, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by preventing Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, firing missiles into Gaza, and obstructing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Israel vehemently denied these allegations and threatened to restart the war if the terrorist group did not release the hostages who it originally agreed to free.
Trump subsequently encouraged Israel to resume the war in Gaza and “let hell break out” if Hamas refused to release all the remaining hostages on Saturday.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock, I think it’s an appropriate time. I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out. I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday,” Trump said to reporters.
Currently, 76 hostages remain in Gaza, including 73 kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023.
The post Freed American-Israeli Hostage Praises Trump, Urges US President to Continue Pushing Until All Captives Released first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.