Guy Gilboa-Dalal’s chilling testimony should wake every freedom-loving American to the brutal reality of Hamas’s crimes. The young Israeli, taken during the October 7, 2023 massacre, spent roughly two years — about 738 days — in Hamas captivity and has now come forward with details that should erase any remaining illusions about what we’re dealing with.
What he describes is not the conduct of soldiers or prisoners of war but of barbaric kidnappers who tormented and humiliated their victims. Gilboa-Dalal has publicly recounted being sexually assaulted and threatened with death if he spoke out, a revelation that adds a sickening new layer to the list of atrocities inflicted on Israeli civilians.
Other reports paint an equally grim picture of daily life for those the terrorists hold: chained in cramped tunnels, starved, deprived of basic hygiene and medical care, and mounting infections and injuries left untreated. These are not the actions of a political movement deserving of sympathy or negotiation; they are the signature of a criminal enterprise that treats human beings as disposable.
Hamas’s use of hostages for propaganda — forcing captives to appear in videos and even to watch staged “release” ceremonies — underlines their contempt for human dignity and international norms. Families authorized brief clips showing Guy pleading to be brought home, a haunting reminder that these are living people used as bargaining chips by terrorists.
There should be no equivocation from Western leaders: this is a fight for basic decency, and it demands decisive action. If global institutions and so-called peacemakers continue to treat Hamas as anything other than a murderous terrorist organization, they will be complicit in prolonging the suffering of innocents and emboldening further attacks. Americans must insist our government stands unwaveringly with Israel and rejects any policy that cushions or legitimizes its captors.
The evidence of sexual violence and systematic abuse has even been recognized at the international level, and it strengthens the case for maximum pressure on Hamas and its state sponsors. The world should support every legal and diplomatic avenue to bring these hostages home and to hold perpetrators accountable, while ensuring no aid or legitimacy flows to regimes that enable terrorism.
Hardworking Americans who value courage, family, and faith must demand action from their leaders and solidarity for the families left waiting. Pray for the safe return of Guy and all hostages, demand accountability from those who enabled this nightmare, and never forget that liberty and security require resolve — not appeasement.
