Nir Oz residents grapple with how to rebuild three years after 7 October attacks

Kibbutz Nir Oz, an Israeli community of about 400 people about one mile (1.6km) from the Gaza border, was among the worst-hit places in the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, according to the BBC. The BBC reported that as Israel marks the third anniversary of its deadliest-ever day, the date is a time of reflection for residents. The BBC described a deserted dining room where birds roost among the ceiling tiles, and glass entrance doors dotted with bullet holes. Dalit Ram Aharon and her husband Achi said they want to move back to Nir Oz 'in the memory' of the friends they lost.

According to the BBC, 41 Nir Oz residents and foreign workers were killed, along with six people who had fled to the kibbutz from a party nearby. The BBC reported that 76 people from the kibbutz were kidnapped to Gaza, including nine bodies, and that 14 hostages taken alive were killed in captivity. The BBC also reported that an estimated 500 Palestinians, led by Hamas's Nukhba force fighters and including civilian looters, some of them children, joined the assault on the kibbutz.

The BBC reported that postboxes at the kibbutz carry stickers placed after the attacks: red marks residents who were killed and black marks those taken hostage. 'That's one out of four of us: murdered or kidnapped,' Dalit said, adding, 'Including children and babies.' Dalit, Achi and their three children survived by hiding in their own shelter for nearly 12 hours that day, according to the BBC.

The BBC reported that Tamar and Yonatan Siman Tov were shot through the door of their bomb shelter, a room designed to protect against rockets from Gaza, not gunfire. The BBC described their burnt-out house and said the couple had three children: twin girls Shahar and Arbel, five, and two-year-old son Omer. Dalit said Tamar wrote in a women's group message, 'Is everyone fine?', then 'They are shooting us', and later 'We are very injured'. Dalit said that from what residents understand, the house was set on fire and the children died from suffocation, so the whole family was killed.

The BBC reported that dozens of fire-damaged homes in Nir Oz, once simple one-storey buildings, have been torn down, leaving rows of reinforced concrete safe rooms, which the BBC noted failed to keep people safe. The Aharons said they want some damaged houses left as evidence of what took place. 'People should see what happened, should see the destruction, the pure hatred that happened here,' Achi said.

The BBC reported that the last living hostages from Nir Oz were returned to Israel on 13 October 2025, and that the remains of the last deceased hostage, Amiram Cooper, were brought back two weeks later. The couple point out where the teacher Maya Goren was killed, the BBC reported.