Guy Gilboa-Dalal tells Israel’s First Lady of sexual abuse he endured in captivity

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In a powerful conversation with Israel’s First Lady Michael Herzog, former hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal has vowed to empower other victims of sexual assault to come forward, whilst detailing the violence, physical abuse, and torture he endured whilst held underground by Hamas in Gaza for 738 days.

The interview between the two in Jerusalem on Thursday 18 June was intentionally held ahead of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict and against the backdrop of a recently published UN report claiming some reports of sexual violence experienced by Israeli hostages couldn’t be verified.

Referring to the organisation’s recent inclusion of Israel on the blacklist of countries and groups that use sexual violence in conflict, Herzog says “what really outraged me was that the beginning of the description of the situation in Israel began by saying that the Israeli hostages who came back from captivity in Gaza made allegations that they went through sexual abuse and that the UN could not verify those allegations and this is why we’re here, so that you can actually say what you went through.”

Now 25 years old, Gilboa-Dalal was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October 2023 from the Nova Music festival, alongside his lifelong friend Evyatar David. His brother Gal escaped that morning and became one of his fiercest advocates.

Freed on October 13, 2025, in captivity Gilboa-Dalal was subjected to severe conditions: extreme dehydration left him temporarily unable to speak. He lost hearing in one ear. He was also subject to two sexual assaults, details of which he first publicly shared in November 2025.

He recalls one of his captors grabbing him from the shower, telling Herzog: “I thought a lot about resisting, but I couldn’t do anything. I was too weak.” The terrorist “took out a gun, pressed it against my head, and said: ‘If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you.’ I was too scared to talk about it with anyone. Not only had I been sexually assaulted, I also couldn’t tell anyone about it. And I didn’t think it would happen again,”

He shares details of another appalling incident, where “every second felt like an entire lifetime.”

One of his captors “would shut the lights for hours and days and we could see nothing. He would treat us very bad. So one time he entered our tunnel and told me to come with him. He covered my eyes and he took me to their room, where he sat me on a chair and he said he’s going to interrogate me. And he told me to get naked.”

Gilboa-Dalal then recalls hearing the terrorist typing on his computer and then “he asked me, ‘you haven’t seen girls in a long time, right? Do you watch porn? Let’s make a porn movie together.’”

“I tried to use Islam because they always say how good Islam is and they believe in it so much, so I said ‘you’re joking, right? It’s not allowed in Islam. And he just ignored me. He came behind me and he started to touch on my body, and to kiss my neck and my back. I was so weak and he was so strong. I froze, I couldn’t do anything. I just wanted it to stop. I thought a lot, maybe I should resist but what can I do.”

Vowing to continue his campaign to speak up, he said: “I feel like I have a mission to spread to the world, to use my voice and empower other victims of sexual assaults. I want people who have been through those experiences to know that they are not alone, because I know that a lot of people who are going through sexual assaults refuse to talk about it with anyone,”

Praising Gilboa-Dalal for his courage, Michal Herzog said: “These are extremely difficult and deeply shocking experiences for a young person, especially in a place and situation where you feel completely helpless,” adding that “it takes tremendous courage to share, and I believe it is our duty to bring our painful and horrifying truth before the world. I thank you for your willingness and courage to do so.”

Calling the UN “fake”, Gilboa-Dalal says: “They should be protecting me. They’re closing their eyes and they’re pretending it didn’t happen.

Released hostages Rom Braslavski and Keith Siegel have recounted similar experiences, whilst former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky directly testified before the UN Human Rights Council detailing the physical and sexual abuse she endured.