Freed Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel calls for new Israel-Hamas deal to bring "all of the 50 back home"

London — The day Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel was freed after nearly 16 months of captivity at the hands of Hamas terrorists in Gaza, he tells CBS News that he denied one final demand by his captors.

"I did wave. I didn't say thank you," he said in an interview at the Israeli Embassy in London on Thursday, during an event to mark 650 days since the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when Siegel and 250 others were taken hostage. Siegel, who was released Feb. 1, said his captors told him he should offer them his thanks during the handover, but he declined in a final act of defiance.

His wife Aviva Siegel, sitting by his side during the interview, had words of praise for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She was also taken captive, but was released after about two months, along with other women and children, under a temporary ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange deal.