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Couple Moves Back to Ravaged Kibbutz Three Months After Oct. 7 Massacre
A damaged building lies in ruins, following an infiltration by Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel at a kibbutz in Kfar Aza, Israel, Nov. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
The first residents of the desolated southern Israeli town of Kfar Aza, located near the Gaza border, have returned home three months after their community was devastated by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
The couple, Eilat Cohen and Shahar Shnorman, told Hebrew-language media they “decided to return because we don’t like being refugees.”
The kibbutz was one of the most ravaged by Hamas on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group invaded from Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 240 others as hostages. Over 70 people were murdered in their homes in the kibbutz.
The town was almost completely destroyed and burned down during the terrorists’ rampage. Since then, it has served as a temporary home for soldiers entering and leaving Gaza, where Israeli forces are waging a military campaign to wipe out Hamas following the Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israeli officials have also taken foreign dignitaries and journalists to Kfar Aza to tour the remains of the community to see the brutality inflicted by Hamas.
Shnorman said that when he decided to return, “I didn’t ask the army, but the army knows we are here, because once a week we host everyone in the kibbutz for a barbecue. Whoever comes is welcome.”
After being evacuated to Tel Aviv with other members of his kibbutz, he said he “sleep better here than I’ve slept anywhere else. In Tel Aviv there’s car noise.”
Cohen, meanwhile, was born and raised in the kibbutz, so its proximity to Gaza and the sounds of the wars that have been fought there are not new to her. “When you live here, you get used to it,” she said.
The couple was hiding in their safe room for more than 30 hours after Hamas invaded, only leaving a few times before fully grasping the situation and even finding a neighbor murdered in her home.
“We felt that we were abandoned. We were sitting here without electricity, without water,” the couple recounted, describing the fear they felt. “As far as we are concerned, the end of the world has come and we are sitting in some dark cave. Who knows if we will ever get out of it?”
Fortunately, the terrorists did not enter their home, and it is one of the few still standing. However, they were forced to evacuate with the remaining survivors, all of whom remain outside of the kibbutz.
Asked if they were hesitant to return, Shnorman said, “It is much easier to live in northern Greece, but here is home. You can only leave home in good times; in bad times you must be at home.”
Since the kibbutz is still abandoned, they are unable to work — especially since most of the neighboring towns are also abandoned. In such an environment, it is difficult to find food, though they are making do.
Cohen said to keep up good spirits, she made a WhatsApp group with kibbutz members called “Good Morning Kfar Aza.” In it, she posts pleasant pictures of the kibbutz and its surrounding nature, hoping to uplift residents.
The post Couple Moves Back to Ravaged Kibbutz Three Months After Oct. 7 Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.