The 737-day ordeal of hostage Evyatar David ended on Monday, as he was released from Hamas captivity. The now-former captive’s closest friends gathered in Hod HaSharon, watching a live broadcast of the release and celebrating the return of the remaining 20 living captives.
David, 24, was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, together with his childhood best friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal.
Omer Levi, 24, and Guy Melamed, 24, friends of David, had been waiting for over 24 hours at a friend’s building in Hod HaSharon to watch the moment of his release.
Two years of helplessness
Levi and Melamad told The Jerusalem Post about the horror of learning that David had been kidnapped. They had met with David just a week before the attack, when he spoke of going to the Nova festival with Gilboa-Dalal. News of the kidnapping first broke around 10:30 a.m. on October 7 via Telegram videos.
“At the beginning, we thought that he might still be in Israel, because [from the videos] it seemed like it might be a bomb shelter,” Melamed recalled. “But half an hour later, there was another video being released with him being walked around the streets of Gaza. So we knew that it was too late.”
The time that followed was characterized by a painful sense of helplessness. “It’s such a horrible feeling to have,” Melamed said. “You start questioning and kind of like feel guilty about everyday life enjoyments, feel like how can I be doing stuff when he’s walking in tunnels in Gaza.”
Levi and Melamad, who met David during their service in the Israel Navy, told the Post about how David suggested that they join him and Gilboa-Dalal at the Nova festival; however, they chose to follow their own plans.
Instead, Melamad said he woke up alone in his home to many messages about how the festival had been attacked.
He had barely been able to process that his friends were there before receiving messages via the Telegram messaging app, where Hamas distributed their content and advertised what they did that day.
The friends recounted the emotional roller-coaster of receiving propaganda videos. While the videos served as a crucial “sign of life,” they also displayed the horrific suffering David endured.
The first Hamas-released video showed David and Gilboa-Dalal, who were held together for most of their captivity, forced to witness a staged release ceremony for other captives in February 2025, only to be left behind. The second, released in August 2025, showed David gaunt and pale, emaciated and digging his own grave, shocking the nation.
“It’s like a two-sided coin,” Levi said, describing the emotional trauma of the August footage. “The last video, the horrible video of him in the tunnel... it’s like a sign of life... but at the same time, you realize the clock is ticking and you gotta hurry up.”
Waiting over 24 hours for the final confirmation, the friends described the atmosphere as “pure anticipation.” The deal, which involved releasing a large number of Palestinian prisoners, was a source of mixed feelings.
“This deal is very hard on the Israeli side. We’re giving up a lot of convicted terrorists with blood on their hands. It’s a very tough decision,” Levi acknowledged. “At the same time, I think it shows the Jewish values of cherishing life, and I’m personally very proud to be part of a society that is willing to give up so much for the individual.”
David, who loved playing guitar and singing, was the inspiration for “Evyatar’s Jams,” a music session at Hostage Square every Thursday, which became a powerful rallying point for unity.
“The jam was a way of opening people to this cause and supporting the hostages without anything having to do with politics,” said Levi. “I think a lot of this is like, it’s not politics. It’s just being one for each other.”
Melamad shared his final hope, ahead of going to meet his friend at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus, where he would begin rehabilitation after over two years of captivity. “I just hope that at next Thursday’s jam, we will have Evyatar with us”.