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Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"This is my brother's room, and you can see his things as he left them. It's very hard for me to be in this room, to see his stuff and not him, it's just too hard."
Gal Gilboa-Dalal's brother Guy has been kidnapped. Four weeks ago, by Hamas terrorists. Since then, Gal has been waiting in Tel Aviv at his parents' house, in his little brother's nursery, for a sign of life.
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"We share the same hobbies, and I've often talked to him about music or anime or the shows we watch together. And now it happens that I have read something and want to tell him, and then I realize that he is not in his room. It's hard to be here."
This is Guy Gilboa-Dalal, a 22-year-old Israeli. Described by his brother as "the best man in the world". On October 7, the two will be at the "Universo Parallelo", a trance festival not far from the Gaza Strip. It's Guy's first time here. His big brother Gal wants to accompany him – to take care of him. That's why he complied.
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"As soon as I met my brother, he jumped on me, hugged me and kissed me. He took out his phone, took a selfie of us and sent it to our mom and texted her that everything was fine."
That was at 6:15 a.m. – a quarter of an hour later, the alarm went off, the Hamas terrorists attacked. The brothers still think it's just rocket fire. They separate to leave with the people they came with. Then shots are fired, both try to hide. Gal calls his brother.
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"I told them to stay as close to the forest as possible, take shelter and tell me what was happening. I didn't really have time to finish the conversation, because some of the people running past us were covered in blood and they were screaming: The terrorists are here, run away! I told my brother that I would call him back right away. My boyfriend and I ran. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would speak to him before he was kidnapped. When I called him from the nearest hiding place, he didn't answer it."
For seven and a half hours, Gal endures in ever new hiding places, while hundreds of people around him are murdered or kidnapped. Then Israeli forces rescue him. At this point, Hamas has already released a video showing Guy and many others in captivity.
To this day, it is the last sign of his brother's life.
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"I miss my brother, I need my brother, I think about him around the clock. Everything else doesn't matter when I think of him."
The whole Gilboa-Dalal family is in shock. Friends come to help, they print T-shirts with Guy's likeness and go to rallies together. Everyone is worried that the fate of the hostages will be forgotten in the ever-escalating conflict.
They share this fear with other families. Here on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, relatives are pasting photos of their loved ones on the wall, many of them confirmed hostages, others unknown missing.
Some hand out yellow bracelets as a reminder and sign of solidarity or, as here, sing a Hebrew version of the Beatles song "Let it be."
So far, only four hostages have been released – out of 239 officially reported, including several children. It is not clear whether others will be able to return home soon.
Back at the Gilboa-Dalals' house. The decorations for the Sukkot celebrations still stand here, although the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles is long gone.
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"But because my brother always helped us build and dismantle the Sukkot hut, my father said that no one would dismantle it until my brother was back with us."
Gal continues to live in the unknown. Day after day, he searches new Hamas videos for clues about how his brother is doing. He knows it's not good for him, but he can't help it, he says. He suppresses the fact that many of his friends were murdered and that he, too, narrowly escaped death.
Gal Gilboa-Dalal, brother of a Hamas hostage
"I will eventually have time to understand and heal my trauma. Now I'm not at that point... I've tried, but I can't do it yet. I know people who have also been to the festival and come back. And when they talk about this party, it sounds like they have their lives back. They lost it and then got it back. That's not how I feel, it feels more like my life has been taken. And I didn't get it back. It is only when my brother returns that I will allow myself to feel that way."