Israel attack survivor's agony as brother remains hostage in Gaza

Israeli survivor Gal Gilboa-Dalal has led a life of pain and worry since Hamas militants took his younger brother Guy hostage from the music festival they attended together on October 7, 2023.

Wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the face of his 23-year-old brother, he showed a photo of their final moments together before being separated during the attack.

Of the 1,218 people killed as a result of the October 7 attack, militants murdered more than 370 people at the Nova music festival, at which Guy Gilboa-Dalal was taken hostage.

"I constantly imagine our reunion," Gal Gilboa-Dalal told AFP.

"This moment felt closer than ever and unfortunately, it's drifting away from me again."

Guy Gilboa-Dalal had been attending the festival on the edge of the Gaza Strip with his childhood friend Evyatar David.

They were among the 44 people taken hostage from the site and remain captive in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

In late February, Hamas released a video showing the two inside a vehicle, watching a hostage release ceremony from a few metres away.

They can be heard calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure their release.

"I saw... how tired, how depressed, how broken he is there," Gilboa-Dalal, 30, said as he watched the video, the first sign of life from his brother since he was seen with his friend at gunpoint in Gaza on October 7.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's attack which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The first phase of a ceasefire that took effect on January 19 saw Hamas release 33 Israeli and dual national hostages, including eight deceased, and Israel free around 1,800 Palestinian detainees.

- 'Gives me strength' -

Gilboa-Dalal said his family and that of Evyatar David had received information on the pair from released hostages who had lived with them in a Gaza tunnel.

"They tell us that they are given only one pita per day and that they have been in the same tunnel for nine months without leaving. A very small tunnel where they live, sleep, eat, and drink," he said.

As Israel resumed its intense bombardment and ground operations in Gaza last week after talks on extending the truce reached an impasse, Gilboa-Dalal said he was wracked with anxiety.

"We are fighting here against a terrorist organisation that only understands force," he told AFP.

"On the other hand, I am terrified that these bombings and this operation... will endanger the hostages there. There's no way to know what the terrorists might do to them or if a missile might accidentally hit them", he added.

Evyatar David's brother, Ilay, shared his fears.

"What happened when the camera was turned off? What new form of torture did the terrorists choose? Were they returned together to the tunnel? Were they separated and sentenced to isolation?"

Both men said they shared a sense of guilt for not protecting their younger siblings.

"I came to the festival to watch over him and to leave without him. It was just a horrible feeling of helplessness that is still ongoing," Gilboa-Dalal said.

Speaking of his experiences on October 7, David said he had "never been so afraid, never been so angry, never been so frustrated."

"I felt like I was burning up and about to explode, that's how I felt. And I felt how everything was crumbling beneath my feet. It was as if... I failed, I was supposed to protect my little brother and I failed," he said at a rally for hostage releases in Jerusalem.

Gilboa-Dalal and David said they are devoting themselves full-time to the fight for the release of their younger brothers and are still hoping to see them return alive.

"Guy doesn't know that I survived Nova... So reuniting with him would be so emotional," Gilboa-Dalal said with a brief smile.

David shared the same hopes for his brother.

"Every day, I think about the moment when he will be free, it gives me strength," he said.