12 people taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz return to Israel

All but one of the 13 Israeli hostages released Friday were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, an Israeli village near the border with Gaza where Hamas militants took more than 70 people on October 7.
Family members said they were grateful that the 12 hostages taken from the kibbutz had been repatriated to Israel, but it was just a “drop of water in the ocean,” Larry Butler said. , 73, a resident of Nir Oz who survived the attack. Of the 215 hostages remaining in Gaza, around 30% come from Nir Oz.
Per capita, Nir Oz is the Israeli village most affected by the October attacks . 7.
On that day, approximately 100 residents of Nir Oz were killed or kidnapped, a quarter of the village's pre-war population. p>
On Friday evening, survivors felt some sense of salvation as 12 of their neighbors and relatives – ranging from Yaffa Adar, 85, to Aviv Asher, 2 – were taken to safety by the Red Cross through Egypt to Israel.
“Is this my grandmother? » » shouted a young girl after residents identified Margalit Moses, 78, their neighbor from Nir Oz, waving at them from a Red Cross vehicle.
But this exaltation was tempered by a broader feeling. of loss.
“There are children here without parents, parents without children and grandparents with grandchildren but without parents,” said M . Butler.
“Do you see the baby over there? he said, pointing to a newborn baby cradled in a woman’s arms. “The husband is in Gaza. »
The village was founded in 1955 as a collective farm whose members pooled their resources and income.
Surviving village residents describe their hometown as a left-wing community, dominated by people who hoped for peace with Palestinians across the border in Gaza, even as most Israelis were losing hope in a negotiated peace agreement.
Mr. Butler, a Philadelphia native who fought in Vietnam as a Marine, moved to Nir Oz in 1974 because the community — some of whom were soldiers turned peace activists — adopted it at a time when Americans were turning the tide. back to veterans.
But after the October 7 attack, Mr. Butler said his commitment to peace had been shaken.

Thirty of Mr. Butler's friends were killed and 60 were kidnapped, he said.
“ I trusted them,” Mr. Butler said of his Palestinian neighbors. “I was completely wrong,” he added.
After the destruction of a large part of the village on October 7, most of the survivors moved away en masse at a hotel in Eilat, a seaside resort on the Red Sea.
The mood in the hotel quickly oscillates between normality and sorrow.
Earlier this week, groups of Nir Oz children ran barefoot through the hotel lobby, seemingly oblivious to the trauma around them.
Suddenly, a boy of about 10 years old stopped. his piece. "What is that? I hear shooting," he said, imagining a semi-automatic weapon that only he could hear.
Thursday evening, when uncertainty over the impending hostage deal was at its height, Idan Cunio, 8, approached his mother, Paula Cunio, 38, to tell her that he had learned reports that his twin cousins were going to be released.
“He just says what he wants to be true,” Ms. Cunio said.
The Cunio family has four members still in captivity: David Cunio, 33, his partner Sharon. Alony Cunio, 44, and their twin daughters Emma and Yuli.
Sharon's sister Danielle Alony, 44, and daughter Amelia, 5, were released Friday.
Irit Lahav, 57, who has spent most of his life in Nir Oz, said being together at the hotel had brought the community closer together. “We were already like family,” she says. "But now it's more of a family embracing each other."
However, residents of Nir Oz were recently warned that their stay in Eilat was coming to an end. end.

In mid-December, they will be transferred to an apartment complex in Kiryat Gat, a small, little-known town in central Israel, for a year. It will jeopardize the community fabric that the kibbutz has worked so hard to maintain, residents said.
“Who will you meet, just your neighbors in the building ? asked Ms. Lahav.
For Ms. Lahav, an avid triathlete, the five-minute walk from the hotel to the Red Sea was an improvement over the one-hour journey from Nir Oz to the Mediterranean.

World Nov 25, 2023 0 33 Add to Reading List

12 people taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz return to Israel

All but one of the 13 Israeli hostages released Friday were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, an Israeli village near the border with Gaza where Hamas militants took more than 70 people on October 7.

Family members said they were grateful that the 12 hostages taken from the kibbutz had been repatriated to Israel, but it was just a “drop of water in the ocean,” Larry Butler said. , 73, a resident of Nir Oz who survived the attack. Of the 215 hostages remaining in Gaza, around 30% come from Nir Oz.

Per capita, Nir Oz is the Israeli village most affected by the October attacks . 7.

On that day, approximately 100 residents of Nir Oz were killed or kidnapped, a quarter of the village's pre-war population. p>

On Friday evening, survivors felt some sense of salvation as 12 of their neighbors and relatives – ranging from Yaffa Adar, 85, to Aviv Asher, 2 – were taken to safety by the Red Cross through Egypt to Israel.

“Is this my grandmother? » » shouted a young girl after residents identified Margalit Moses, 78, their neighbor from Nir Oz, waving at them from a Red Cross vehicle.

But this exaltation was tempered by a broader feeling. of loss.

“There are children here without parents, parents without children and grandparents with grandchildren but without parents,” said M . Butler.

“Do you see the baby over there? he said, pointing to a newborn baby cradled in a woman’s arms. “The husband is in Gaza. »

The village was founded in 1955 as a collective farm whose members pooled their resources and income.

Surviving village residents describe their hometown as a left-wing community, dominated by people who hoped for peace with Palestinians across the border in Gaza, even as most Israelis were losing hope in a negotiated peace agreement.

Mr. Butler, a Philadelphia native who fought in Vietnam as a Marine, moved to Nir Oz in 1974 because the community — some of whom were soldiers turned peace activists — adopted it at a time when Americans were turning the tide. back to veterans.

But after the October 7 attack, Mr. Butler said his commitment to peace had been shaken.

Thirty of Mr. Butler's friends were killed and 60 were kidnapped, he said.

“ I trusted them,” Mr. Butler said of his Palestinian neighbors. “I was completely wrong,” he added.

After the destruction of a large part of the village on October 7, most of the survivors moved away en masse at a hotel in Eilat, a seaside resort on the Red Sea.

The mood in the hotel quickly oscillates between normality and sorrow.

Earlier this week, groups of Nir Oz children ran barefoot through the hotel lobby, seemingly oblivious to the trauma around them.

Suddenly, a boy of about 10 years old stopped. his piece. "What is that? I hear shooting," he said, imagining a semi-automatic weapon that only he could hear.

Thursday evening, when uncertainty over the impending hostage deal was at its height, Idan Cunio, 8, approached his mother, Paula Cunio, 38, to tell her that he had learned reports that his twin cousins were going to be released.

“He just says what he wants to be true,” Ms. Cunio said.

The Cunio family has four members still in captivity: David Cunio, 33, his partner Sharon. Alony Cunio, 44, and their twin daughters Emma and Yuli.

Sharon's sister Danielle Alony, 44, and daughter Amelia, 5, were released Friday.

Irit Lahav, 57, who has spent most of his life in Nir Oz, said being together at the hotel had brought the community closer together. “We were already like family,” she says. "But now it's more of a family embracing each other."

However, residents of Nir Oz were recently warned that their stay in Eilat was coming to an end. end.

In mid-December, they will be transferred to an apartment complex in Kiryat Gat, a small, little-known town in central Israel, for a year. It will jeopardize the community fabric that the kibbutz has worked so hard to maintain, residents said.

“Who will you meet, just your neighbors in the building ? asked Ms. Lahav.

For Ms. Lahav, an avid triathlete, the five-minute walk from the hotel to the Red Sea was an improvement over the one-hour journey from Nir Oz to the Mediterranean.