"Forced to relieve themselves in a pit in front of other hostages": The mothers of Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David spoke to Israel Hayom about the harrowing conditions in which their sons, best friends since toddlerhood, are being held. The two were abducted together from the Nova music festival on October 7 and taken to Gaza.
Merav Gilboa-Dalal recounted information passed on by former hostages Omer Vankert and Tal Shoham, who were held with Guy and Evyatar and appeared together with them in the now-infamous brutal video published by Hamas, as they watched their own release.
"They are being held in a small tunnel, 30 meters underground. They are chained. The tunnel is extremely cramped, dark, cut off from the outside world, and barely has room for four mattresses. There's nowhere to move, and you can't stand upright. Inside that tiny space, there's a pit for relieving themselves, and everything is done in full view of the other hostages. Guy and Evyatar are living in filth, and we know they are being subjected to severe psychological abuse.
"They don't know how hard we're fighting for them. They're malnourished, in a place with hardly any air, no physical activity, and no stimulation. It's easy to sink into depression in such a place. We also know their health is not good. Guy, for example, was kidnapped with knee and ear problems, and we know these injuries are not being treated. Both of them are suffering from various infections and extreme mental distress."
Video: The Hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David watching other captives being released / Credit: Social media
Galia David, Evyatar's mother, added, "He's been there for a year and a half without his glasses and can barely see. He and Guy have been starving for a long time, for many months. But about two weeks before Tal and Omer's release, they suddenly started feeding them. Just think about how they looked in that video Hamas released, and imagine how they looked before they started giving them that food. They're really suffering."
Merav continued, "You've got four thin young men who weren't given food, and suddenly they're being stuffed. No one told them why this was happening. They didn't know that some of them were about to be released because there's no communication and no one updates them. Think about Guy and Evyatar's mental state now, after they were taken out together with Tal (Shoham) and Omer (Vankert), thinking they were about to be freed as well. On top of the harsh conditions and the relentless abuse, they experienced something devastating. The terrorists gave them a taste of freedom for a moment and then shoved them back into that filthy, black hole."
Galia said, "I believe the terrorists haven't managed to completely break them."
Messages from captivity
David and Gilboa-Dalal were abducted from the Nova festival. After "Operation Arnon" this past June, freed hostage Almog Meir Jan, who was kidnapped with them and spent the first day in Gaza alongside them, shared what those first horrific hours were like.
"Almog said they were put in a pickup truck, with him in the front and Evyatar and Guy in the back," Merav described. "We now know they were among the first abducted from Nova. Later, we learned that from the moment they arrived in Gaza, they endured severe beatings."
Did you receive any personal messages from them?
Galia: "We did, but I prefer to keep that to myself for now. I'm not comfortable sharing personal things my son asked to be passed on to me."
Merav: "I feel the same. But broadly speaking, they sent their love."
Galia: "From the hostages who returned, we heard that the relationship between Guy and Evyatar is symbiotic. They depend on each other."
Merav: "What will happen if they do a selection and only take one of them? They can't survive without each other."
Galia: "They chose each other at 18 months old. This isn't a blood connection. Their souls were bonded by choice, and that's extraordinary. When one of them hurts, the other does too."
