Kan 7.10.360 | The story of Kibbutz Nir Am on October 7

A peaceful Simchat Torah morning. Kibbutz residents go for a morning run, and some cars leave the kibbutz in the early morning, while it is still dark.

barrages of rockets and bombs are fired at the kibbutz. Residents enter the safe rooms as they had practiced.

Under barrages of heavy rocket fire, Hamas Nukhba terrorists infiltrate the kibbutz from four different points: through the vineyard gate closest to the border, through the northern main gate, through the southern back gate, and through a breach in the fence near the house of the Ravshatz.

Scores of terrorists armed with rifles, grenades, anti-tank missiles, and home burglary equipment split into squads according to different sections of the kibbutz and break into houses. In some homes, terrorists record themselves live on social media with hostages.

Hundreds of Gazan civilians, including the elderly, young adults and even children and teenagers, invade the kibbutz. Together with Hamas terrorists, they go from house to house, shooting and massacring civilians, looting and stealing private and agricultural equipment.

The terrorists arrive equipped with fuel and incendiary materials and begin setting fire to many houses - some of them with their residents, who are hiding in the safe room, still inside. Residents call for assistance in every possible media: “They are burning our house.” Local groups instruct residents not to leave the safe rooms for fear of ambushes or explosive charges and instruct them to put wet clothes in the doorways. The firefighting units brief residents: “Do not leave the Safe room. You may feel suffocating, but as long as you don't see physical smoke, you can be like that for hours.”

A single tank from the border area arrives on the road leading to the kibbutz gate. The tank fighters spot near the Yellow Gate a large group of terrorists looting equipment from the farm. They advance towards the gate in a slow fashion, fire a shell, back away, and leave the place without going inside. The tank fighters will explain in retrospect that they were afraid to enter with a tank into the kibbutz so as not to inadvertently harm civilians.

Hamas squads, alongside large civilian groups, kidnap dozens of the kibbutz's residents into the Gaza Strip. Among the kidnapped are elderly, men, women, children and infants.

Eshkol Regional Council representatives announce a major terrorist attack in the council area: “As of this morning, we are under a combined terrorist attack. There are a number of serious incidents in several communities at the same time, and unfortunately, there are casualties. The defense forces are making efforts to team up with the communities”

After 7 hours of slaughter, kidnapping, looting, theft, and vandalism, the last of the terrorists leaves the gate of Kibbutz Nir Oz. The last terrorists are documented as they stroll leisurely with bags in their hands

First army troops enter the kibbutz. They enter in an operational fashion and expect resistance, but by the time they arrived there are no terrorists present on the kibbutz territory. They join the security squad and inspect house by house. Residents first direct them to homes with which contact was lost a few hours ago.

Residents gathat the children's homes and await evacuation

Soldiers and members of the security squad and some residents continue to conduct scans to verify a final scouring of the kibbutz. 36 civilians were murdered and 72 kidnapped in the Nir Oz massacre.

It was not until the evening of October 8 that the evacuation of the residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz was completed after about a quarter of the residents were murdered or kidnapped. Most of the survivors were concentrated in hotels in the Dead Sea and Eilat. In early January, residents of the kibbutz moved into temporary housing in the Carmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat.