Two former Hamas hostages are marking the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks with a message of peace. Aviva Siegel and her husband Keith Siegel, abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, have become well-known figures in Israel through conferences and media interviews. They testified before the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva in November 2025 about violence, including sexual violence, against hostages. In February 2026 they were received at the White House by First Lady Melania Trump. "This will be here until we die," Aviva Siegel said of their trauma. The couple married in 1981 and raised four children, Shai, Gal, Shir and Elan, in Kfar Aza, about a kilometre from Gaza. Keith, born in North Carolina, moved to Israel at 20; Aviva, born in South Africa, arrived as a child. At an October 7, 2026 ceremony honouring the 1,221 people killed by Hamas three years earlier, the couple again confronted the horror that shattered their lives. Aviva has criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying indiscriminate bombings put hostages at greater risk.