Merav, the mother of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, revealed in an interview with Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) that her son is being held alone above ground in Gaza and is being used as a "human shield."
“I was informed that Guy is being held alone above ground in Gaza, serving as a human shield,” she said. “Don’t try to question me further - there are many things I want to say, but I’m holding back out of concern for my son’s safety. When he comes home, maybe I’ll scream louder, maybe I’ll shake things up more.”
She added that her son and fellow hostage Evyatar David were subjected to psychological torment. “They were allowed to watch their friends leave, believing they too would return home. But since then, they’ve been kept in a tunnel, and no one has brought them back or gotten them out.”
Merav said learning her son was being used as a human shield marked a new depth of despair.
“I thought this was the nightmare of my life - but now I know my son is a human shield, and that’s the absolute lowest point. We can’t breathe; we have no air. I’m begging with all my being that there be no military operation, that the war doesn’t continue - for the sake of the hostages and the soldiers.”
She also commented on Guy’s physical condition, as seen in Hamas propaganda videos. “You saw my son in the video, pleading to be brought home. Every sentence he speaks, he has to swallow hard - his mouth is completely dry. I know from returned hostages that he’s observing a ‘speech fast’ because there isn’t enough water. They put a long-sleeved shirt on him while he’s sweating to hide how emaciated he is.”
She concluded with a plea to the public conscience. “I don’t know what’s happened to us as human beings. What does a hostage have to look like for someone to understand they need to be rescued from there?”