“If peace is ever to come to the Middle East, we must never forget the hostages.”
These were the words of Gal Gilboa in an interview with Politis in October 2024. “This entire situation began with the hostages, and it cannot end, the wound cannot heal, until they return home. I believe peace can come to the Middle East, and I will not stop speaking about Hamas’s hostages until it does.”
At the time, Gal’s brother Guy, now 25, was one of the Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, during the Nova music festival attack.
The interview was published on 13 October 2024. Exactly one year later, Guy returned home, alive, to the arms of his family. Gal, along with their parents and younger sister, were among the first to arrive at Sheba Hospital, which on Monday became the main reception centre for the 20 Israeli hostages released alive.

From the start, Gal’s family believed Guy was still alive and would one day return. The last sign of life they had was a video released by Hamas on the day of the attack. In it, Guy appears with a friend shortly after being abducted and taken to Gaza. “The video of my brother is the only one showing hostages not at the moment of capture. He looks frightened, terrified, but physically okay. A group like Hamas will exploit such footage for propaganda. I don’t believe they’ll harm him, they need him alive, as a bargaining chip,” Gal told Politis then.
Gal himself was also at the festival that day. “It was my brother’s first time at such an event,” he recalled. “At first, I wasn’t planning to go, but he convinced me. When it was time to leave, Guy decided to stay a bit longer, he didn’t want his friends to think he was abandoning them. I managed to escape. He was taken hostage, along with his friend Evyatar. Two others from their group were killed on the spot.”
For two years, Gal never stopped speaking out, appearing at rallies, giving interviews, and reminding the world that behind the numbers are human beings. His faith, like that of dozens of other hostage families, never wavered, even when exhaustion and despair grew unbearable.
When he visited Politis last year, Gal wore a T-shirt with Guy’s photo, reading “Bring him home” and “Still held hostage by Hamas.” He carried the last picture the two brothers had taken together, just minutes before the attack.
On Monday, as new photos show, he wore the same shirt and held the same image, this time, as his brother finally came home.
