אל על | אטמוספירה

Just as we were about to end our interview with singer and ex hostage Daniella Gilboa (former observer from the Nahal Oz outpost who was kidnapped on October 7), she said, in a soft but firm voice: “my story of captivity will follow me for the rest of my life, but I’d like people not to see me as merely ‘the ex-hostage that sings’. I was writing and composing songs long before I was kidnapped. I’m a singer and a performer, and I’m here to stay - thanks to my talent and not out of pity for what I’ve been through”. We interviewed Gilboa just before she makes her way to Australia, where she’ll be taking part in “Unbreakable”, the Australian Jewish music festival held in Sydney and Melbourne this month, performing half a dozen orignal songs. Remembering and commemorating Gilboa is heading to Australia with her heart on her sleeve - feeling proud of her journey so far and of her resilience during and after captivity. “Even though captivity was unbearably hard, I made the decision to keep hope alive and to go on living. Every day, I choose to remember and commemorate the group of amazing young women who were murdered on the day of the massacre. Out of the nine girls who were in the bomb shelter with me on that day, only two of us remain: Karina Ariev and I. We talk every day and I’m so glad she is also on her path of recovery. When I was still in captivity, as the magnitude of the tragedy began to sink in, I experienced a strong sense of guilt”. Guilt about having survived? “Yes. Guilt about the fact they should all still be alive, and they’re not. And yet, I am. Since my return from captivity (after 477 days – D.B.) I’ve been going to therapy twice a week and it helps me a lot. “In captivity, I was moved places 30 times, and

each time I had to adapt to a new place. At night, they would dress me in a galabia, hide my face and take me somewhere else”, she says. But even in captivity, Gilboa did not let her voice be completely silenced, and on the rare occasion when she obtained a piece of paper, she journaled, trying to put words to her pain. Today still, writing is her way of trying to make sense of things, and despite the immense pain and longing for her beloved friends murdered in cold blood, and the feelings of survivor’s guilt she experiences, she’s giving herself the possibility to take deep breaths and pave her way towards healing and recovery. Making dreams come true “I’m an optimist by nature, and I have a lot of faith in the future. Singing and songwriting are my healing tools on the path to recovery. I believe in living life to the fullest, and that all we have is the here-and-now”. Since her return from captivity, Gilboa appeared live on a few occasions. “I received several invitations to perform at events abroad, but I didn’t feel strong enough and turned them down. Now I feel ready”. Music has always been a big part of Gilboa’s life. She plays the piano, writes, composes and sings. “My whole life revolves around music. I was already writing songs in the third grade”, she says. Do you only write songs about what happened to you on the day of the massacre and during captivity? “There are many sides to me as an artist, and I hope to start writing about other things, but right now songwriting is my way of healing, of expressing all of my pain. My songs aren’t about what it was like to be in captivity, because for me, captivity was like a parallel reality that not everyone can understand. My songs talk about coping with life and that’s something I think everyone can relate to”. What did you discover about yourself

Rapid-fire

What makes you laugh? “I laugh at every little thing. There’s a very funny guy on social media called Omer Hikri whose videos I enjoy a lot”. What annoys you? “People who complain about little things”. What’s your favorite pastime? “Relaxing in the sun“. What do people not know about you? “That I love to laugh and to make people laugh”. If you weren’t a singer, what would you want to be? “I can’t think of anything else I’d want to be. Music is my one true calling”.

during your time in captivity? “I discovered I was braver than I thought, and that I’m an optimist at heart. What’s for sure, is that like many of the other survivors, we will never go back to being the same people we were before. I also discovered that I have a dark sense of humor. In captivity I lost 7kg. We used to call the food they gave us “donkey food” – it was terrible, inedible crackers, but we all suffered terribly from constipation and there was comfort to be found in this “donkey food” which helped us digest fast”. What was coming home like? “First there was a lot of euphoria. Then came the extreme anger, which included tantrums and panic attacks. It wasn’t me. Later, I realized I had been angry enough, and I decided that from now on, I’d do my best to spread hope and light through my music”. Any thoughts about an album? “It’s in the works. It’ll take time but I know that after the first album, there’ll be more”. And what’s your biggest dream? “Right now, it’s doing as many live shows as I can, in Israel and abroad, and then hopefully, one day, to make it to the biggest stages and have audiences sing the words to my songs along with me!”. ˆ

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ATMOSPHERE OCTOBER 2026