Guy Gilboa-Dalal is still being held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy: Bring Them Home Now)
The abuse persisted with the arrival of a new guard, who was even more brutal than his predecessors. “He made some of us kneel like dogs and beat us,” he recounts. “He would come in screaming that we were filthy Jews, hit us, and then 10 minutes later, he would smile and bring food.”
Then, in what felt like a miraculous turn of events, Tal and Omer were included in a hostage-release arrangement in February. Upon being led outside after months in confinement underground, still blindfolded, Tal felt moisture on his face. “Is it rain?” he inquired. “No,” came the response from his captors, “it is dew.” It was then that he realized the significance of his name, Tal, which means ‘dew’ in Hebrew. He felt the morning dew on his skin.
Despite enduring further humiliations, such as being forced to repeat Hamas propaganda during a procession on a stage in Rafah, he was undeterred — he was going home. Upon returning to Israel and being taken to the Re’im base, he was reunited with his wife, Adi, and their two children, Nave and Yahel, who were eagerly awaiting his arrival. “It was like a dream, yet it felt too surreal,” Tal recounts. “It took a while for the reality to sink in. It was overwhelming, like I was disconnected from everything around me.”
And there was tragic news to absorb. Eleven members of Tal’s family were kidnapped or murdered on October 7. Adi’s father, Avshalom Haran, and two uncles, Lilach and Evyatar Kipnis, were killed. His mother-in-law, Shoshan Haran, was taken, along with two other relatives — Sharon Avigdori and her daughter, Noam Avigdori — who were later released in the first hostage deal. Two other relatives who had come from the United States to celebrate a birthday, 59-year-old Judith Raanan, and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were also kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Tal Shoham reunites with family, some of whom were also taken captive on Oct. 7. (IDF)
And there was joy. During his captivity, four new babies were born into the family. “Among us, the Jewish hostages, there was purity,” he said. “There was dignity. The terrorists brought in whatever horrors they wanted, inflicted whatever cruelty and pain they could, imposed their inhumanity on us. But within our space, we preserved our inner cleanliness, our humanity between one another. And that was crucial to making it out unbroken.”
