Latest news with #NirOz
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'This Kibbutz will rise again': Netanyahu visits Nir Oz for first time since Oct. 7
Residents of the kibbutz expressed mixed feelings, as they've invited the prime minister to visit multiple times since the massacre. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at Kibbutz Nir Oz on Thursday, where he met with captivity survivors and toured the sites of destruction in his first visit since the October 7 Hamas massacre. "I'm here with my wife, Sarah, in kibbutz Nir Oz in front of the destruction and slaughter. [Standing here], you feel it in the depths of your soul. The vastness of the pain, the depth of sorrow, the trauma that hasn't healed. Standing here, I feel a deep responsibility to return all of the hostages. There are 20 live hostages and there are dead hostages. We will bring them all home," Netanyahu said. "We need to work hard so that this kibbutz will rise again, and it will rise again." Initially, Netanyahu's convoy was met with heckling from protesters at the entrance to the kibbutz. Residents of the Kibbutz shared mixed feelings ahead of the prime minister's arrival. "I don't know how the visit will end or what Netanyahu expects during it. I'm not even sure how I feel,' Gal Goren, a third-generation member of Nir Oz who lost both of his parents in the massacre, said. 'On one hand, I am filled with anger and horror toward him, and that after over a year and nine months, he still continues to abandon our friends who are still there. On the other hand, as a family member of a hostage who was returned in a coffin, I know that we must try everything, including what is difficult for us." Goren added that if Netanyahu spoke about revenge or continuing the war, and he doesn't understand that the goal should be returning the hostages, 'then it will be an injury and disrespect to everything that Nir Oz symbolizes, and an incomprehensible cruelty toward our community and all citizens of Israel.' He added that the visit should not be seen as an opportunity for forgiveness, but an 'attempt to save lives and bring entire worlds back for burial.' Danny Elgert, brother of hostage Itzik Elgert, said that protesters had initially blocked Netanyahu from entering the kibbutz. Jonathan Shmariz, founder of the "Kumu" (Rise Up) movement, commented on the visit and the fact that Netanyahu won't be alone, 'He brought a camera crew. Slogans. A media briefing. He will talk about his courage. About his brave decisions. He will say, 'We are with you.' And then he'll return to his office, far from the smell of death, far from the children who have no home. We don't need another show. No more press conferences." 'We need leadership that comes in time. That feels the pain, not just films it. That admits failure, not boasts about it. Leadership that returns the hostages, restores life to rehabilitation, and brings the fallen to burial. We will not give up. Not in memory. Not on the hostages. Not on the truth. And we will build something else here. Real," Shmariz added. The kibbutz emphasized that for months, they sent personal invitations to the prime minister to visit the location, which bore one of the highest blood tolls on October 7. However, after the visit, the kibbutz said in a statement that its members expect renewed efforts to free the hostages. "We expect that this visit will promote the return of the 50 hostages, including nine from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and that the Israeli government will be committed to the reconstruction of the kibbutz and the rehabilitation of its people, wherever they choose to live." At the time, on the national day of mourning, members of the kibbutz sent Netanyahu an official invitation which read: "We invite you to come to the place where the disaster occurred, a place where life and death are neighbors—among the ruins of the homes, from which our cries were not heard. The members of the community will be there to welcome you." The invitation also read: "On October 7, Kibbutz Nir Oz was the only kibbutz where security forces did not arrive during the hours the terrorists were on the kibbutz, and therefore they were able to do as they pleased—murdering and kidnapping over a quarter of Nir Oz's population and entering every home in the kibbutz, except for six." Kibbutz member and former hostage Gadi Moses met with the prime minister during the visit. Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu also met with Yizhar Lifshitz , son of former hostages Oded and Yocheved Lifshitz. Yocheved was returend in an early iteration of a hostage deal and ceasefire, but Oded's body was returned in February 2025. Einav Zankauger, whose son Matan is still in Hamas captivity, met with the prime minister and the first lady at the kibbutz. The Zankauger family are members of Kibbutz Nir Oz and have been outspoken against Netanyahu's handling of the hostage crisis After the meeting, Zangauker shared her thoughts of the meeting on X/Twitter. "I met with the Prime Minister today in Nir Oz and, together with Ilana, told him about the moments of Matan and [Ilana's] abduction, emphasizing to him how critical Matan's deteriorating condition is. My Matan, unfortunately, won't hold on much longer there, not 60 nor 120 days," Zanguaker said. "His muscular dystrophy is worsening, his condition is deteriorating, he must be released now, otherwise he won't survive. The Prime Minister promised to bring back Matan and everyone, up to the last hostage. I stressed to him that he has a mandate from the people of Israel to reach a comprehensive agreement for the return of all 50 hostages, the living and the fallen. Now is the time for action." The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that the visit marked a new opportunity to bring the hostages home, noting that a partial deal would be a "grave failure and a tragedy that will haunt us for generations." "After nearly two years of complex and grueling warfare, we must seize this window of opportunity with wisdom and resolve," the statement read. "Prime Minister, you must reach a comprehensive agreement that guarantees the return of every last hostage and brings an end to the fighting. "The era of partial deals, categories, lists that distinguish between one life and another, and cruel selections must end." The kibbutz suffered a serious blow on October 7, when 69 of its 386 residents, guests, and foreign workers were murdered, and an additional 76 were kidnapped by Hamas. Currently, four hostages from Nir Oz remain in Hamas captivity.
News24
04-07-2025
- Politics
- News24
‘They've gone through hell': Trump wants Gaza to be safe as Netanyahu vows to return all hostages
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring home all the hostages still held by militants in war-stricken Gaza, where the civil defence agency said 73 people were killed on Thursday in his country's ongoing offensive. Netanyahu has come under strong pressure to get the hostages back after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with Palestinian militant group Hamas that could lead to their release. 'I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them,' Netanyahu told inhabitants of the Nir Oz kibbutz, the community that saw the most hostages seized in the 2023 Hamas attacks that sparked the war. 'We will bring them all back,' he added, in filmed comments released by his office. Netanyahu is due to meet Trump in Washington DC next week, with the US president expected to push for a ceasefire. 'I want the people of Gaza to be safe more importantly,' Trump told reporters on Thursday when asked if he still wanted the US to take over the Palestinian territory, as he announced in February. 'They've gone through hell.' Israel's leaders have held firm to their aim of crushing Hamas, even as the group said on Tuesday it was discussing new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators. Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where its war on Hamas militants has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of more than two million. Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks that the military often says target Hamas militants hiding among civilians. Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said those killed on Thursday included 15 in a strike on a school sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war. In an updated toll on Thursday evening, he told AFP that 73 people were killed across the territory by Israeli strikes, artillery or gunfire. They included 38 people he said were waiting for humanitarian aid at three separate locations in central and southern Gaza, and a child killed by a drone in Jabalia in the north. Menahem Kahana/AFP Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said regarding the Gaza city school incident that it 'struck a key Hamas terrorist who was operating in a Hamas command and control centre in Gaza City'. 'Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,' it added. Regarding numerous other strikes across the territory on Thursday, it said it could not comment in detail without precise coordinates and times. 'In response to Hamas' barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities,' it told AFP. Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images It said it 'follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm'. Bassal said later in a message that the army was refusing to let the civil defence into three neighbourhoods of the city where he said people were trapped under rubble, some of them still alive. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the claim. At the Gaza City school compound hit on Thursday, AFP footage showed young children wandering through the charred, bombed out building, as piles of burnt debris smouldered. Groups of Palestinians picked through the rubble and damaged furniture that littered the floor. Umm Yassin Abu Awda, among mourners who gathered at the city's Al-Shifa hospital after the strike, said: 'This isn't a life. We've suffered enough.' Either you (Israel) strike us with a nuclear bomb and end it all, or people's conscience needs to finally wake up. Umm Yassin Abu Awda Bassal of the civil defence agency reported 25 people killed while seeking aid near the Netzarim area in central Gaza, six others at another location nearby and seven in Rafah, southern Gaza, with scores of people injured. They were the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive scarce supplies. The US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distanced itself from reports of people being killed while seeking food from its sites. Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack that prompted the Israeli offensive resulted in the deaths of 1 219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57 130 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
Asharq Al-Awsat
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Netanyahu on First Visit to Israeli Kibbutz Ravaged in Hamas Attack
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israel's Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza Strip on Thursday for the first time since Hamas fighters penetrated the border and killed or kidnapped nearly one in four residents nearly 21 months ago. Facing scrutiny over his government's failure to prevent the assault and mass protests demanding the return of hostages still held in Gaza, Netanyahu and his wife Sara were met with both loud protests and hugs but also deep concern from everyone. "I feel a deep commitment – first of all to ensure the return of all of our hostages, all of them. There are still 20 who are alive and there are also those who are deceased, and we will bring them all back," Netanyahu said. During a tour of the kibbutz devastation, he promised to help it rebuild. On Monday, Netanyahu will meet President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas that would include a phased release of hostages. The October 7, 2023, raid on Israel by Palestinian gunmen of the group was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust in World War Two. The gunmen crossed the Gaza border to attack Nir Oz and other targets. That day, Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was taken hostage and is believed to be alive in Gaza, had previously accused Netanyahu of choosing his own political survival over ending the war. On Thursday, she hugged him. Afterwards, she wrote on X that she had emphasized with him her concern for her son's worsening muscular dystrophy. "I stressed to him that he has a mandate from the people of Israel to reach a comprehensive agreement for the return of all 50 hostages, the living and the fallen. Now is the time for action," she wrote. Israel's military assault has since killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry says, while displacing most of the enclave's more than 2 million people, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
LBCI
03-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Netanyahu vows at stricken kibbutz to bring hostages home
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday visited the community that saw the most hostages seized in Hamas militants' 2023 attacks, promising to bring home "all" those still held in Gaza. "I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them," Netanyahu told inhabitants of the Nir Oz kibbutz in filmed comments released by his office. "We will bring them all back." Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. AFP
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Netanyahu on first visit to Israeli kibbutz ravaged in Hamas attack
NIR OZ, Israel, July 3 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israel's Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza Strip on Thursday for the first time since Hamas militants penetrated the border and killed or kidnapped nearly one in four residents nearly 21 months ago. Facing scrutiny over his government's failure to prevent the assault and mass protests demanding the return of hostages still held in Gaza, Netanyahu and his wife Sara were met with both loud protests and hugs but also deep concern from everyone. "I feel a deep commitment – first of all to ensure the return of all of our hostages, all of them. There are still 20 who are alive and there are also those who are deceased, and we will bring them all back," Netanyahu said. During a tour of the kibbutz devastation, he promised to help it rebuild. On Monday, Netanyahu will meet President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas that would include a phased release of hostages. The October 7, 2023, raid on Israel by Palestinian gunmen of the militant group was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust in World War Two. The gunmen crossed the Gaza border to attack Nir Oz and other targets. That day, Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was taken hostage and is believed to be alive in Gaza, had previously accused Netanyahu of choosing his own political survival over ending the war. On Thursday, she hugged him. Afterwards, she wrote on X that she had emphasised with him her concern for her son's worsening muscular dystrophy. "I stressed to him that he has a mandate from the people of Israel to reach a comprehensive agreement for the return of all 50 hostages, the living and the fallen. Now is the time for action," she wrote. Israel's military assault has since killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry says, while displacing most of the enclave's more than 2 million people, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
