Freed Hamas hostages met with US President Donald Trump and US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff while on a special visit to Washington.
Eli Sharabi, Keith and Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher, Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, and Noa Argamani were the freed captive participating in the delegation, and they shared firsthand accounts of captivity and stressed the need to free the remaining 59 hostages urgently.
President Trump met with a group of hostages that were recently released by Hamas as part of the hostage deal pic.twitter.com/5n4Vr3POH8
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) March 5, 2025
“We came to the White House to express our great appreciation and gratitude to President Trump and his special envoy to the Middle East, Mr. Steve Witkoff. They made a deal possible, they got us all home,” said freed hostage Keith Siegel on Wednesday.
“We urged them to continue their enormous efforts. They have done so much. We trust them and we know they will get the job done to get all the rest of the 59 remaining hostages held in Gaza back to their families, back to Israel.”
Sharabi said the delegation “came to the White House today as captivity survivors to ensure that the 59 hostages still being held will be released through an agreement for their return as soon as possible. Thank you to President Trump and Witkoff, who are committed to this goal.”
Shem Tov told the president, “My family and myself believe you have been sent by God to release them.”
'You are their hope'
Naama Levy said, “You were our hope when we were in there [Gaza], and now you are their hope.”
The delegation arrived at the offices of the DC chapter of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Tuesday to learn about what the forum has done in the capital since the October 7 massacre.
They saw posters of all the hostages, and each freed hostage wrote a personal message on their own posters.
“How good it is to simply be. Thank you for your prayers and hard work,” Shem Tov wrote.
“What a joy it is to be here. Thank you, everyone, for all the efforts!” Levy shared.