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.

“I witnessed women being abused, being tortured, being beaten, just treated in an inhumane way,” Siegel said. “And… I worry about the hostages that are still there, knowing from my experience with what they’re going through.

“And we could lose them. We could lose them at any minute,” he added.

The Israeli-American was hopeful that Trump would be able to bring the deal home like with the February cease-fire that saved his life, with Siegel eager to welcome back his friends and rebuild their homes that were decimated on Oct. 7.

Nadav Rudaeff, the son of slain hostage Lior Rudaeff, echoed the need for the war to come to an end and for the captives to come home after 730 days under Hamas custody.

Rudaeff recalled the violence that killed his father, who was protecting their kibbutz on Oct. 7, as one of the most horrid things he had ever witnessed in his years growing up near the Gaza border.

“It was inhumane — the worst evilness I’ve ever experienced,” he said of the terrorist attack that claimed more than 1,200 lives.

The son, still in mourning as his father’s body remains in Gaza, said that while he’s hopeful that the cease-fire deal can materialize, he has learned to temper his expectations after nearly two years of waiting.

“Well, for the past few years, we’ve been let down and disappointed too many times. So I’m really trying to remain hopeful, but still staying grounded in order not to get disappointed again,” he lamented.

Many who joined Sunday’s rally said they are trying to keep hope alive that the hostages will be freed soon, including Maryam Kashaniam, of the Upper East Side.

Kashaniam — who wore a baseball cap that read, “Free our hostages” — said the hostages can’t endure any more suffering, nor can the world continue to be marked with hatred as antisemitism runs rampant in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack.

“I’m hopeful. I’m grateful to President Trump for the people he brought home in January and February,” she said. “And I’m hopeful that he’ll bring the rest home and that there will be peace in this region.”

Hamas and Israel are set to begin indirect negotiations on Monday to go forward with a peace deal, with both facing pressure from Trump to accept the terms laid out.

While Hamas has agreed to a majority of the details, the terror group continues to show resistance against disarming itself and leaving governance of the Gaza Strip to an international assembly.

The terror group has reiterated that it would not stand down unless a Palestinian state is created, a condition not laid out in the agreement and one that Israel has repeatedly rejected.