First lady meets with Chapel Hill native who was held hostage by Hamas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- First lady met Keith Siegel and his wife at the White House after his release.
- Siegel spent 484 days as hostage after Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas in Israel.
- Trump said meeting Aviva 'served as a catalyst' toward Keith’s freedom.
Good morning! It’s Danielle Battaglia with the latest edition of Under the Dome focused on the actions of the Trump administration.
I come, this week, bearing some uplifting news (I feel like some of you already doubt me).
On Wednesday afternoon, Chapel Hill native Keith Siegel and his wife Aviva visited First Lady Melania Trump at the White House.
It’s hard to forget the Siegels’ harrowing story.
On Oct. 7, 2023, the Siegels were driving in Israel, where they live, when they were captured by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group considered a terrorist organization by the United States. Hamas killed at least 1,200 people that day and took another 240 people hostage in a brutal attack on Israel.
During a humanitarian cease-fire in November 2023 during the resulting war between Israel and Hamas, Aviva Siegel was released, but Keith remained. As of January, more than 71,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have died during the war, according to the United Nations, though the actual totals aren’t clear.
My heart ached for her and their children when I had the privilege of meeting some of the Siegel family in April 2024 at the U.S. Capitol, where she was fighting for help to get her husband released. At the time, I feared the worst, but hoped for the best.
Keith Siegel spent 484 days as a hostage enduring unspeakable torture at the hands of his captors, before they finally let him go.
While he was a hostage, the first lady met in January with Aviva Siegel.
In a news release, Trump said that meeting “served as a catalyst to the events leading up to Keith’s freedom.”
“It was clear that day in New York City that Aviva Siegel’s human spirit would move mountains to rescue her husband, Keith,” Trump said.
The news release said that Aviva Siegel gave Trump a handmade book about Keith and the brutality of Oct. 7. She, in turn, shared the book with the president.
“I was deeply moved to hear from the First Lady about the meetings she held with my wife, Aviva, while I was in captivity, and about the strength and support she gave to the families of the hostages throughout that difficult journey,” Keith Siegel said in the news release.
Trump said during a news conference Wednesday that the meeting was captured by cameras for the documentary about her, “Melania,” that premiered last week. She encouraged people to go watch that scene, which has raised concerns with ethics experts, according to CNN. The news organization spoke with ethics experts and hostage advocates who said it was “jarring” to see hostages used to promote a movie the Trumps stood to benefit from.
But the Siegels appeared unbothered, and Keith told Trump he was excited to go watch it.
Aviva Siegel offered gratitude to Trump for her help.
“Meeting again today feels profoundly full circle,” Aviva said in the news release. “I am endlessly grateful for Mrs. Trump’s steadfast support over these painful two years.”
Keith Siegel added that he’s grateful for the “tremendous efforts to secure the return of hostages, and my own return.”
And as a reporter whose career has spanned beats that rarely get to report a happy ending, I’m tremendously thankful that Siegels are home together again.
What else we’re working on:
- Fact check: Gov. Roy Cooper did not release DeCarlos Brown Jr. early from prison
- NC elections board votes to disqualify Republican U.S. Senate candidate
- Moral Mondays founder Rev. Barber plans walk through Eastern NC as voting starts
- No REAL ID? It could cost you $45 and precious time at a TSA airport checkpoint
- Duke professor named hundreds of times in newly released Epstein files
- FBI seeking potential victims in investigation of former Raleigh police officer
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and supporting local journalism.
Be kind to each other.
If you have any feedback or tips for this edition of the newsletter, feel free to reach out to me directly at dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com.
Not a subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "First lady meets with Chapel Hill native who was held hostage by Hamas."
