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Haunted by War, Some Israelis Hesitate to Return to Kibbutz Attacked by Hamas
Kibbutz member Yael Raz Lachyani, 49, walks by the fence of Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel, Oct. 28, 2025. Hamas gunmen killed 15 people from Nahal Oz and took eight more hostage to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Avishay Edri wants to move back to the kibbutz he evacuated in southern Israel after it was attacked by Palestinian terrorists two years ago, but is hesitating as fears persist that the war in nearby Gaza will resume and it will not be safe.
Edri, 41, has happy memories of raising his four children in Nahal Oz, just a few hundred meters across potato and sunflower fields from the border with the Gaza Strip.
But it is also where they spent 17 hours locked in a bomb shelter hiding from Hamas gunmen who killed 15 people in Nahal Oz and took eight back to Gaza as hostages on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since the Palestinian terrorist group and Israel agreed a ceasefire last month, relative calm has returned to the area, but Edri and other residents say relief is mixed with foreboding about what the future holds.
“We are very conflicted about moving back,” Edri told Reuters by telephone from a kibbutz in northern Israel.
“It has become very important to go back for the emotional closure after the helplessness and humiliation we went through,” he said. “But this conflicts with the logic about what will happen next.”
GRIEF, DISTRUST, AND UNCERTAINTY
The 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities led to two years of war until the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump.
Despite flare-ups of violence that have strained the ceasefire, Israel has after two years lifted a state of emergency in areas near the Gaza border that had allowed the military to restrict citizens’ movements.
To encourage people to go home, the government has also said it will stop paying for residents of Nahal Oz to live elsewhere.
Faced with difficult questions about whether it is safe to return and how to rebuild homes and lives in a place that now holds traumatic memories of the Hamas-led attack, about half the 400 residents are yet to return.
All that separates Nahal Oz from Gaza are the fields and rows of barbed wire. The few residents who returned before the ceasefire said rockets fired at Israel by Palestinian terrorists sometimes landed in Nahal Oz as war raged in Gaza.
When Reuters visited the kibbutz last week, buildings still showed damage from rocket attacks, and the regular pounding of Israeli artillery could be heard as black smoke rose above Gaza.
WAR ERODES PEACE ADVOCACY
Before the war, many kibbutz residents advocated for peace with Palestinians, and Edri would drive sick Gazans to hospitals in Israel.
He said he would find that difficult now and described himself as “naive” for thinking individual actions could prevent war.
Asked whether he thought there could be peace, he said: “Perhaps after this huge catastrophe, people on both sides will see there is nothing to gain from this kind of war.”
But that felt unlikely, he said, echoing the thoughts of many Israelis.
The number of Israelis who think there can be a peaceful coexistence with a Palestinian state fell to 21 percent this year, from around 50 percent in 2013, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
FOUNDED BY SOLDIERS, SHATTERED BY WAR
Nahal Oz, which traditionally makes money from agriculture, was founded by soldiers three years after Israel’s independence in 1948. Many residents saw living there, despite the risks, as important for Israel to stake out territory for its survival.
Then came the 2023 attack in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, leading Israel to launch its two-year military campaign against Hamas.
The Palestinian terrorists who entered Nahal Oz in 2023 killed residents while livestreaming their actions on social media using phones stolen from residents.
Walking near the border fence, Yael Raz Lachyani, 49, who grew up in the kibbutz and returned with her family in August, recalled going to the beach and eating in restaurants in Gaza in the early 1980s.
She used to think about the suffering of people on the other side of the fence at times of conflict, she said, but no longer has a “place in my very broken heart to think about them.”
Asked about the likelihood of another generation of violence, she said: “I hope not, but at the moment it feels most likely.”
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US Strikes More Than 90 Iranian Military Targets on Kharg Island, CENTCOM Says
A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. Photo: 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
United States forces executed a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island in Iran on Friday night, the US Central Command said on Saturday.
“US forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure,” CENTCOM said.
The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, the US military said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to strike the oil infrastructure of Iran’s Kharg Island hub, unless Tehran stopped attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
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North Korea Fires Ten Ballistic Missiles Toward the Sea of Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju inspect an honour guard before leaving Pyongyang for a visit to China, this January 7, 2019 photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 8, 2019. Photo: KCNA via REUTERS.
i24 News – North Korea fired roughly ten ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the South Korean military reported, marking a new act of defiance amid Seoul and Washington’s annual joint military exercises.
The launches, originating from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, were detected around 1:20 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The missiles were directed toward the East Sea—the Korean name for the Sea of Japan—though details on their range or trajectory were not immediately available. Earlier, the South Korean Ministry of Defense had already confirmed the launch of at least one unidentified projectile in the same area.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense also verified the incident, noting that a suspected ballistic missile had been launched from North Korea.
The launches come amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Since Monday, the United States and South Korea have been conducting their annual joint exercises, which will continue through March 19 and involve approximately 18,000 South Korean troops alongside an unspecified number of U.S. forces.
Pyongyang has sharply criticized the drills, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned this week that the exercises could trigger “terrible and unimaginable consequences.”
The missile tests also coincide with fading prospects for inter-Korean dialogue. Kim Jong-un recently dismissed outreach efforts from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, labeling Seoul “the most hostile enemy.”
The show of force occurred just hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, during a visit to the United States, mentioned a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un—a meeting Washington still considers possible.
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Dutch Authorities Investigate Explosion at Jewish School Claimed by Extremist Group
Police outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – An explosion struck a Jewish school on Zeelandstraat in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert during the night between Friday and Saturday, Dutch authorities confirmed. Emergency responders, including police and firefighters, acted swiftly, and officials reported that the building suffered only limited damage. No injuries have been reported.
Mayor Femke Halsema described the incident as a deliberate attack against the Jewish community in the city, emphasizing that the authorities are treating the case “very seriously.” Security camera footage showing the individual who detonated the device is under investigation.
In an unverified online video, previously little-known group identifying itself as Ashab Al Yamim later claimed responsibility for the blast. The group released online footage appearing to show the small explosion followed by a fire outside the school. Its logo was also seen in videos related to an attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam earlier this week.
Dutch investigators are coordinating with the judiciary to determine the full circumstances of the attack and whether additional suspects were involved. Authorities noted that the organization had not been previously known to security services.
The explosion comes amid rising security concerns for Jewish institutions across Europe, following heightened tensions in the Middle East. The group behind the claim has also alleged responsibility for previous incidents targeting Jewish sites in Europe, including attacks in Liège, Belgium, and Rotterdam, though these claims remain unverified.
Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers across the continent have stepped up security measures in recent weeks amid fears of potential threats to Jewish communities.