#Kibbutz Nir Oz

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

[confusedjewishnoises]

i´m sorry Shiri

i´m sorry Kfir

i´m sorry Ariel

i´m sorry Oded

WE FAILED YOU

[secular-jew]

From my friend Hen Mazig.

[girlactionfigure]

Kibbutz Nir Oz has sadly confirmed the death of one of its residents, Tamir Adar.

Tamir was part of the kibbutz armed response team that fought Hamas on October 7.

He was either killed and his body taken, or abducted and killed in captivity. Either way, Hamas still holds his remains.

Tamir's wife and two children survived the terrorist invasion.

His mother, Yaffa Adar (85) was also abducted and later released in one of the hostage deals.

It was Yaffa, a Holocaust survivor, who became the face of Israeli defiance amid the hostage crisis after she would not allow Hamas to break her.

May his memory be a blessing.

[sefaradweb]

Dolev Yehoud

🇪🇸 El 7 de octubre de 2023, el EMT voluntario de United Hatzalah, Dolev Yehoud HYD, fue asesinado por terroristas de Hamas en Kibbutz Nir Oz. Dolev, que había recibido una mención por su servicio pocos días antes, dejó a su familia en el refugio y salió a ayudar a los heridos durante el ataque. Su hermana Arbel y su pareja Ariel fueron secuestrados y llevados a Gaza. Dolev deja atrás a su esposa Sigal y sus hijos Raz, Yotam, Yaron y Dor. Eli Beer, presidente de United Hatzalah, expresó su pesar por la pérdida de Dolev y la esperanza de que los cautivos regresen sanos y salvos.

🇺🇸 On October 7, 2023, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Dolev Yehoud HYD was murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Dolev, who had received a commendation for his service days before, left his family in the shelter to aid the wounded during the attack. His sister Arbel and her partner Ariel were captured and taken to Gaza. Dolev leaves behind his wife Sigal and children Raz, Yotam, Yaron, and Dor. Eli Beer, President of United Hatzalah, expressed sorrow for Dolev's loss and hope for the safe return of the captives.

[vyorei]

Comments from a family member of October 7 victims

[angrybell]

This is an interview with a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz. This kibbutz was one of the hardest hit by the Hamas attack with about a quarter of its residents killed or taken hostage.

[sheliach]

[clarabosswald]

to the 10 non-israeli hostages still in hamas captivity (listed from top left to bottom right):

bipin joshi, 23, nepal. an agronomy student, bipin arrived at israel to study citrus cultivation, only 3 weeks before 7/10. he was staying at kibbutz alumim when the attack started. at first, when the rockets started, bipin sheltered in a bunker with 16 other nepalese foreigners. thinking this was a "regular" attack, and will pass soon, they've even taken a group selfie, which one of them had uploaded to facebook with the caption "bunker time". bipin can be seen in this photo.

fear settled in when the sound of gunfire was getting closer. terrorists briefly entered the bunker at first, shooting at the men. two were instantly killed - one who was filming with his phone, and one who shouted "we're nepalese!" the terrorists have then started throwing grenades into the bunker. the men have crowded against the wall - except for bipin, who jumped at the grenades to throw them away. he was successful with the first grenade; but the second one exploded before he could get to it, and left several of the men injured and unconscious. the terrorists have moved on from the bunker, and later the men heard distant shouts of israeli officers, who arrived at the active scene of the attack, instructing them to come to a nearby kitchen for better shelter. while a few of the men immediately went there, bipin and a few of his friends tried to first aid those who were injured by the grenade. it was during this time that he quickly texted his cousin, in english: “If something happens to me you have to take care of my family. Be strong and always see the future.” it was then that two terrorists broke into the bunker. one, pointing a gun at the men left inside, instructed them to come outside with him. the other filmed them with his phone - with the footage being the last time bipin was seen. bipin's phone was later located in the gaza strip.

2. sudthisak rinthalak, 43, thailand. a farm worker, he was working the orchards of kibbutz be'eri on the morning of the attack. he was murdered on the spot, and his body kidnapped into the gaza strip. his death was confirmed to his family on may 16, 2024, following an investigation of the available evidence. may he rest in peace.

3. watchara sriaoun, 32, thailand. a farm worker, he was kidnapped from kibbutz nir oz, where he was working. watchara arrived in israel back in 2020 with his brother, in order to cover their family debt and pay their father's medical bills. apart from his mother and brother, waiting for him back home is also watchara's 9 year old daugher, irada, whose mother died in august 2024.

4. sathian suwannakham, 35, thailand. a farm worker from kibbutz nir oz, he arrived at israel in 2020. sathian was seriously injured during his kidnapping. his mother found out about it via a video on facebook; she, alongside sathian's father and sister, are still waiting in thailand for any word on him.

5. pongsak tanna, 36, thailand. a farm worker, he would often livestream while working, talking to his father wilas, or his 14 year old daughter. on the morning of 7/10, pongsak video called his father. during the 10 minute call, he described the chaos of rockets and gunfire, shouting at people around him to hide from the terrorists. eventually the signal was cut. pongsak was kidnapped into the gaza strip. during the weeks after 7/10, wilas spent days riding his bike around his home province, alongside the thailand-cambodia border, looking for anyone with a relative in israel who could help him search for pongsak. he had spent thousands of bahts (hundreds of dollars) repeatedly submitting legal documents to the government, in hope for any news on his son. “if my son is alive, whenever israel can get the hostages released, I want (him) to come home quickly to (his) hometown," silas said in an interview back in october 2024. “most importantly, i want my son to be ordained (as a buddhist monk) for his mom who died when he was away."

6. bannawat seathao, 27, thailand. a farm worker, he was shot in the leg before being kidnapped.

7. nattapong pinta, 35, thailand. nicknamed "nick", nattapong, a farm worker, came to work in israel a year and a half before 7/10, leaving his wife and young son, in order to pay off a debt and help his wife fulfill her dream of opening a coffee shop. he worked the avocado groves in nir oz. during the occasional rocket attacks, nick would call his older sister, reassuring her. "i’m just saving up a little more money, then i’ll be coming back.” on the morning of 7/10, nick called him wife, narissara. there was shooting, he said, and he was running away. that was the last she heard from him. "i felt like my heart was being squeezed when i learned that he hadn't been freed yet," narissara said. "i will definitely go to the airport [when he returns]. nothing will stop me."

8. suntaya akrasi, 20, thailand. a farm worker, suntaya was murdered on 7/10 while working near kibbutz be'eri, then his body was kidnapped into the gaza strip. his death was confirmed on may 16th, 2024. may he rest in peace.

9. joshua loitu mollel, 21, tanzania. an agronomy student, he arrived at israel 3 weeks before 7/10, planning to stay for 11 months. both joshua and his roomate, clemence felix mtenga (22), a fellow student from tanzania, were murdered in nir oz. at first, the pair had managed to text a fellow tanzanian intern in the kibbutz, ezekiel kitiku, telling him that they were running for shelter. but after a few hours, the texts have stopped. joshua's violent kidnapping was filmed and posted online, showing the terrorists stabbing and shooting him several times. joshua's body was kidnapped into the strip; clemence's body was identified a month later. joshua's death was confirmed in december 2023. joshua was the oldest of 5 children, and his stay in israel was his first time traveling outside of tanzania. joshua's father told of joshua's younger siblings that they "ask me every morning and night: ‘Dad, we want to talk to our brother.'" may joshua and clemence rest in peace.

10. surasak lamnau, 30, thailand. a farm worker at first, surasak's mother, kanmee, had no idea what happened to her son. in the chaos following the events of 7/10, his colleagues in israel told her that they did not see him. but after she posted about him online, she was told that he was one of 5 people - an israeli employer and his 4 thai employees - who were kidnapped. his fate is currently unknown.

none of these 10 hostages are expected to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire deal between israel and hamas.

of the 82 foreign nationals who were killed during the 7/10 events, 46 were thai, 10 were nepalese (all agronomy students who were murdered in kibbutz alumim), 5 chinese (3 were murdered in sderot); 4 were from the philippines (3 were working as nurses in the gaza envelope, one was killed in the nova festival massacre); two nurses from sri lanka (both murdered in kibbutz be'eri); two were from tanzania; 2 were from the uk; 2 were from the usa; and the others were from germany, moldova, canada, cambodia, eritrea, india, mexico, ukraine, and geogria. 32 foreign nationals were kidnapped. most of them thai. 647 foreign nationals were injured.

[gaelic-symphony]

Sagui Dekel-Chen has a 1 year old daughter he has never met. His wife, Avital, was 8 months pregnant when terrorists from Gaza invaded Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Sagui and his family lived. Sagui made sure Avital and their two daughters, Bar and Gali, made it to the safe room in their home, then left to go confront the terrorists. He was kidnapped by Hamas and dragged into Gaza, where he has been held hostage for 497 days, enduring starvation, torture, and inhumane conditions. He missed not only the birth of his third daughter, Shachar, but the entire first year of her life.

Tomorrow, B”H Sagui will be freed after 498 days of hell, and he will meet his daughter Shachar for the first time.

[girlactionfigure]

Gad Haggai, 73, abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, has been declared dead.

He was killed in terrorist captivity. His body is still being held in Gaza.

May his memory be a blessing.

[sefaradweb]

Testimonio de Ilana Gritzewsky, joven mexicana ex secuestrada de Hamás

🇲🇽 llana Gritzewsky comparte su testimonio de lo que vivió el 7 de octubre de 2023, cuando terroristas de Hamás ingresaron al kibutz Nir Oz, donde ella vivía junto a su novio. Recuerda cómo trató de salvar su vida, el temor y la constante incertidumbre por lo que les sucedería y su lucha por ser la voz de quienes aún permanecen secuestrados en Gaza, entre ellos su novio.

Webinar "Feminicidio el 7 de octubre: Una historia que no te han contado", organizado por la Oficina de Presidencia de Israel, Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) e Israel, Leche y Miel.

🇺🇸 Llana Gritzewsky shares her testimony of what she experienced on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists entered the Nir Oz kibbutz, where she lived with her boyfriend. She recalls how she tried to save her life, the fear and constant uncertainty about what would happen to them, and her fight to be the voice for those still held captive in Gaza, including her boyfriend.

Webinar "Femicide on October 7: A Story You Haven't Been Told," organized by the Office of the President of Israel, Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), and Israel, Milk and Honey.

[queenwille]

kibbutz Nir Oz released an announcement that the body delivered today was found to belong to Shiri Bibas this time.

please don’t let anyone ever forget the pure faces of these these 3 on the last seconds we ever got to see of them:

and don’t ever dare to forget about shiri, a woman who held as tight as she could to protect her babies, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough. yarden, i know it means very little right now, but i hope you know we’re sending you as much love as we can and i’m so sorry. 🧡

[greco-roman-jewess]

I want to tell you about two 4 year old boys.

The first one is named Shlomo. He was born in Iraq. His family was part of the 2600 year old Jewish community of Baghdad. His daughters remember him telling happy stories of his early childhood helping people and sneaking into movie theaters.

Then in 1941 when he was 4 the Arabs who were in charge of Iraq read the thoughts of an evil man named Hitler and decided that Shlomo and his family were a problem to be solved. They destroyed homes and businesses. They murdered 1000 people and drove 10,000s more like Shlomo and his family out of their homes.

They came to Eretz Israel along with thousands of others escaping from a “final solution.” They built a country where Jews could be safe and truely home for the first time. Shlomo grew up and helped build the nation by participating in the founding of Kibbutz Kissufim. He met a woman named Mazal and had five beautiful proudly Israeli children. Shlomo loved this country and almost never looked back.

Ariel Bibas was born in Israel a third generation Israeli citizen. He spent most of his life Kibutz of Nir Oz- which his grandfather had helped build. He was the beautiful red haired child who made his parents mother and father. He loved Batman and watching butterflies on picnics and playing with his friends.

In 2023 bad men who decided that Jews shouldn’t exist in their country attacked his kibbutz as well as many other places along the boarder. The bad men had guns and they destroyed the kibbutz. When it was all over they had killed 1200 people Ariel’s grandparents and Shlomo were among the victims. The men also stole 251 people from their homes in Israel. 4 year old Ariel was taken away with his baby brother Kfir in their frighted mother’s arms. Shlomo and his wife were taken too. Shlomo was already dead.

It was in the home of one of the bad men with guns one month later where Ariel and Kfir would be strangled to death with bare hands as their mother was forced to watch by people who thought they were a problem to be solved.

In 2025 Ariel and his brother were returned in coffins without their mother Shiri. She would be brought home a day later ripped from her children one final time.

Today a 4 year old boy was buried. His name was Ariel.

Today a 85 year old man was taken home. Soon he will be buried 16 months late. His name was Shlomo.

When Shlomo was 4 years old he was driven from his home by people who didn’t think he deserved to live. 81 years later he would again be removed from his home by people who thought his life was less than dirt- along with a 4 year old boy named Ariel

[david-goldrock]

*Announcement from Kibbutz Nir Oz spokesperson regarding the return of the body of the late Alex Danzig | 08.20.24*

Alex Danzig, who was kidnapped on Saturday the seventh of October and murdered after suffering physical and mental torture for months, was today returned to his home and family for a final farewell and will be brought to burial in the land of Israel.

Alex was 75 years old, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Father of four children, grandfather of 12 granddaughters and a grandson. He dedicated his life's work to studying and teaching about the Holocaust and the relationship between Jews and Poles, and at the same time he worked for many years cultivating the fields he loved so much. In this way, Alex formed a bridge between different worlds: between the spirit and the book and the earth and the fields, between Israel and Poland, between the Holocaust and its resurrection.

Bringing Alex for burial is another step in Kibbutz Nir Oz's path to rehabilitation after the great disaster, a rehabilitation that cannot be complete without returning all the abductees to their homes and the murdered to a suitable burial in the land they dedicated their lives to. The State of Israel has the duty to return everyone home, as soon as possible.

[athymelyreply]

A highly recommended read. Full text of article under cut

On October 7, I was not hiding with my child in the safe room. My house was not burnt to the ground, and my husband didn't blow me a last kiss before his killer fired a fatal bullet.

I was safely at home in London where I have lived for over 30 years when my elderly peace-activist parents, Oded and Yocheved Lifschitz, along with 77 others members of the community, were taken hostage, barefoot and in their pajamas from their homes in the kibbutz where I was born and raised.

Israel's hostages in Gaza: A matter of life and death

Israeli peace activists who lost loved ones in the Hamas massacre stand their ground

What we can learn from released Hamas hostage Yocheved Lifshitz

For the past 229 days, together with the families of the other of hostages taken captive which now number 128, we have taken part in the fight for the lives of our loved ones.

A photo of the writer, Sharone Lifschitz's parents, Yocheved and Oded Lifschitz, who were both kidnapped by Hamas to Gaza on October 7. To date, only Yocheved Lifschitz has returned. Credit: Amiram Oren

In Nir Oz, my family's kibbutz, one in four people (117 in total), were either executed or kidnapped. We are still piecing together the events of that brutal day that Hamas terrorists and some Gazan civilians, perpetrated medieval levels of cruelty, driven by hate and revenge, blinded by radical religious ideology and super-charged with amphetamines.

Last month, at the "Seder in the Streets" event in New York, activist Naomi Klein spoke as if none of that ever took place. Instead, addressing hundreds who gathered for a combination Passover Seder and protest of the war in Gaza, she spoke of what she termed the "False Idol of Zionism", comparing Jewish support of it to the Israelites "worshiping" the golden calf and recalling Moses' rage seeing the spectacle.

Klein's interpretation seems to miss the point: Moses, unlike Klein, did not disengage. He did not give up on his people when they worshipped a false idol. Instead, without compromising his integrity and beliefs, he guided them through the desert for forty more years in their journey to become a nation. Klein, at this dangerous moment in history, is failing to lead her listeners to take responsibility, to engage and work towards a shared future in the region for Jews and Palestinians, one built on the preciousness of life on both sides and an understanding of the original intention of Zionism: the necessity for a safe home for the Jewish people.

"Seder in the Street" was also protesting the heartbreaking and ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank. Many in Israel, like my parents, would agree. Yet their plight and that of the other hostages – most of them civilians, from a baby boy of one year to a man of 86 - are not mentioned at Seder in the Streets or other gatherings of far-left pro-Palestinian Jewish activists.

My father, Oded Lifschitz, who is 83, and his friends who are also hostages, all in their late 70s and 80s, have worked for peace for decades. My mother, Yocheved Lifschitz, was thankfully released after 17 days of captivity.

Yocheved Lifschitz after being released from 17 days in Hamas captivity, in Tel Aviv, Israel in late October. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

How much more effective these protests could be if activists abroad could act as a bridge between the pro-Palestinian movement and progressives fighting for peace in Israel?

Hamas, a terrorist organization which has been systematically stripping freedom, women's rights and democracy from the Gaza strip since 2006 are also strangely left out of the discussion. In fact, I see more criticism of the Hamas attack and crimes from moderate Palestinian voices than from prominent Jewish voices of the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States and Europe.

Klein is instead content in disengaging from Israel based on a distorted idea of Zionism and in so doing offers no solidarity with the moderate, progressive Jews living in Israel and for whom rejecting Zionism is irrelevant at this moment. Whether we like our government's policies or hate them as many do, Israel is home. Just as Canada is Klein's home, whether or not she likes the policies of the Canadian government or condones its mistreatment of its Indigenous population.

I consider myself pro-Palestinian. My family has always fought for a shared future for our two peoples, understanding this key point: our fates are interlinked. My parents have advocated for peace and equality for and with the Palestinians since the 1960s. We have united as a family to protest policies of the current Israeli government we find abhorrent. I wish for the Palestinians what I want for my own people: to live without bloodshed, in their own democratic state, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.

The facts are indisputable to Zionists and non-Zionists alike: There are about 7 million Jews and 7 million Palestinians living in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza. Jewish Israelis cannot be expected to reject the idea that they can and should have the right to live safely in Israel. Without Israel, where would they go?

Everyone who cares about what's best for the region must strengthen those who are working for a peaceful future. As my father always says, "You make peace with your enemies."

A Palestinian family rides on the back of a donkey-drawn carriage next to damaged buildings in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, in April.Credit: AFP

Thanks to international efforts to formulate a plan for the "day after" the war in Gaza, we are potentially closer to a long-term political agreement to lift us out of conflict than ever before. To help facilitate it, American and European progressives must distinguish between religious fanatics on both sides and those working toward a path of justice and peace for everyone in the region.

We must differentiate the liberal American pro-Palestinian activists from those who justify Hamas atrocities as acts of resistance. The dominant current narrative of the American far left, including the Jews among them, unwittingly aligns with Iran, and with antidemocratic and illiberal forces.

Instead of fostering hate and promoting disengagement from Israel, progressives abroad should help those in the region regain a sense that another future is possible and advocate for a negotiated political agreement that would create a state of Palestine established alongside the state of Israel. It won't be perfect, but it will be a good start.

The work of advocating for a different, sustainable future, must start with a call for the immediate release of hostages as part of a long-term agreement, backed by America and its allies, including moderate Arab states, that has the potential to transform the lives of Palestinians and Israelis by rescuing them from this ongoing tragedy. To fail to do so is to fail not just the hostages and their families, but to throw all the people of the region further into the abyss and undo the inspiring work of moderate forces within Israeli and Palestinian society.

In this, our darkest hour, we ask ourselves, who is our enemy? My enemy is the blind hate that seeks to erase the humanity of the other side. All of us who are horrified by what is unfolding in Gaza should work toward empowering the people of the region to move away from our common enemy. That's not Zionism, but rather the religious fanaticism we have within both our societies – Israeli and Palestinian – that threatens to engulf us all.

Sometimes, I want to shout at the news on TV, to remind people that their indulgent engagement in hatred of one side is so futile, so self-congratulatory. We can do better.

As we bleed and grieve, and in the case of families like my own – hang suspended between hope and despair for the fate of our loved ones, we must seek points of human connection between Jews and Palestinians, we must fight, not against one another, but for a practical solution that dismantles the status quo so that we can all survive – and live in freedom and security.

Sharone Lifschitz is a London-based filmmaker and academic originally from Kibbutz Nir Oz, whose parents were taken hostage on October 7. On Twitter: @Lifschitz_sha