After 738 days in captivity, 23-year-old Guy Galboa Dalal has returned home. The young man, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, is now reunited with his family — but the details emerging from his time in captivity are grim.
Guy’s brother, Gal, who was also at the festival and managed to escape, spent nearly two years fighting for his return, not knowing whether his brother even knew he had survived. Only last month did Guy see a photo of Gal holding a sign with his name and learn that his brother was alive.
Guy reuniting with his family
(Video: IDF)
Three days after his release, a troubling picture is emerging. Guy has difficulty hearing, suffers from constant pain and his testimony about what happened after the last hostage release in February reveals months of deliberate starvation, abuse and psychological torment.
“My friends who came back don’t even know what happened after they left,” Guy told his family upon his return. The family says they know the road to recovery will be long and are calling on the public to help support a fundraising campaign for his rehabilitation.
“Guy is so sweet — he doesn’t want to worry us,” his brother Gal said in an interview with Ynet. “The first thing we asked was about his ear, and he said, ‘I can’t really hear, but it’s okay.’ He’s undergoing many tests and treatments. Physically, they were very restricted — held in a tiny space and barely able to move.”
“He was in the same physical condition as Evyatar — the one we saw in that horrifying video,” Gal said, referring to Guy’s friend and fellow hostage, Evyatar David. “For three and a half months, the terrorists deliberately starved them. They were told explicitly that the goal was to make them ‘poster children of skin and bones.’ After that video came out, the captors started giving them more food after the global blowback to the campaign.
“His weight went up and down constantly, with all the damage that caused. It’s hard for him to move much. His muscles and bones ache terribly, day and night. Even though he stands and smiles, he’s suffering deeply.”
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Guy Gilboa-Dalal at the hospital
(Photo: GPO)
Guy was kidnapped from the Nova festival along with his close friend, Evyatar David. His brother Gal, who was also there, managed to escape the Hamas attack. For 738 days, Gal fought to bring his brother home — not knowing if Guy even knew he had survived. He only learned that Gal had survived last month.
Around the same time, he managed to send his family a letter through the Red Cross. Shortly before that, he and Evyatar were separated after being held together throughout almost the entire duration of their captivity.
“Guy and Evyatar didn’t realize they were being separated,” Gal said. “They thought Guy was being taken to film something and would be brought back. Then they realized they might never see each other again.
“That made their reunion at the hospital incredibly emotional — after two months apart, having been together every day in captivity. They keep looking for each other; it’s amazing to see. They’ve always had a close bond, but now it’s something else entirely.”
Little by little, Guy is beginning to experience ordinary things again. “They were deprived of so much for so long that now every small thing — a chocolate ball, a hug — feels like a whole world to them,” Gal said. “But along with the joy, there’s worry and fear — about tomorrow, about recovery. On one hand, they want to live and do things; on the other, it’s still so hard. They need time, and the ability not to worry. They need strength and support, and we’re here to give them that, to help them cope.”
“Sometimes there are moments when Guy wants to talk and understand what happened,” Gal continued. “When he asks, he sometimes tells us things, but he’s not ready to sit down and share the full story. It’s very hard for him, and we’re not pushing.
“Each time he tells something, we realize it was worse than we imagined. He said something that shook us: ‘My friends who came back don’t even know what happened after they left. The hardest time began after they were released.’
“They were released after 500 days, and he stayed another 300 days in captivity. He described horrific things — unbelievable suffering. What those young men went through is beyond words. I’m in awe of the strength they had to survive. Beyond the joy of his return, we’re beginning to understand that the road to recovery will be very long.”
Gal, who fought alongside his family for two years to bring his brother home, says the struggle is not over. “We’re very aware that we need financial support,” he said. “We want to help him rebuild his life and fulfill his dreams, to start again from the beginning.”
The family has launched a fundraising campaign to support Guy’s rehabilitation. “He needs the safety net around him,” Gal said. “He needs help to start fresh and chase his dreams. The road to recovery will be long, and he needs time to reclaim more and more of himself.”