Ex-hostages host radio shows on songs of strength in captivity

Many former hostages who spent weeks, months, and years in Gaza captivity have spoken of songs that gave them strength during their torment and pulled them through dark moments.

Pianist Alon Ohel often tapped or hummed melodies, including Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Yehudit Ravitz’s “Song Without a Name,” both of which gained new meaning in the dark tunnels.

Sagui Dekel-Chen has said he would play love songs in his head, including “Keren Shemesh” (Sunbeam), one of his young daughters’ favorite tunes.

Now, radio station Kan 88 is hosting a special Passover series called “Free Choice,” curated and hosted by former hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Amit Soussana and Yarden Bibas.

The ex-captives will each oversee and host three one-hour-long evening programs on the station featuring the songs that were most meaningful to them before and during captivity.

Former captive Bibas has spoken about the role of music in his life with his wife, Shiri Bibas, before the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that tore apart his family. Bibas was abducted separately from his wife, Shiri, and their young sons, Ariel and Kfir. His wife and boys were murdered in captivity.

Bibas buried his family in February 2025 at the Kibbutz Nir Oz cemetery, to a soundtrack of heavy-metal ballads from their life together.

“Music has always accompanied me; it was a refuge and comfort for me, and a way to express myself and my emotions when I couldn’t find the words,” Bibas said in a statement shared by Kan 88.

Bibas will appear on Kan 88 on April 6 at 9 p.m.

The thick, massive sound, extended guitar solos and intense and often dark thematic lyrics of heavy metal are also beloved by former hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who was taken from the Nova desert rave and released in October 2025.

The lifelong music fan has said he finds meaning in music beyond the tunes or lyrics.

“When I knew that Omer Wenkert and Tal Shoham were going home, and that Evyatar and I were staying in captivity, part of what I asked them to pass on to my family was songs—one song for each person,” Gilboa-Dalal said in a statement, referring to fellow hostages released before him and his best friend, fellow captive Evyatar David. “For my mother, my father, my older brother, and my little sister.”

Gilboa-Dalal will appear on Kan 88 on April 5 at 8 p.m.

Former captive Amit Soussana, the lawyer who bravely fought her captors as she was dragged from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, will host a program on Kan 88 on April 6 at 8 p.m.