'Nir Oz was a paradise' Life stands still at kibbutz ravaged by Hamas

Post is no longer delivered to Nir Oz; the lights in the mailroom are off and the floor is gathering dust. Many of the metal boxes bearing each family's name now have new labels: red and black stickers that say "killed" or "hostage".

- Bethan McKernan

Natan Bahat, 82, knew nothing would be waiting for him, but halfheartedly checked his postbox anyway. "Time stopped here on 7 October," he said.

Bahat's family left Nazi Germany and eventually found a home in Israel. As a young man, he became one of the founders of Nir Oz, a kibbutz established in 1955. It was hard work, he said, but he loved the deep connection to the land and to other people central to the kibbutz lifestyle. Now a widower, he raised his family here, and never left.

Today, the dedicated kibbutznik is one of only two people from the once 400-strong community still living in Nir Oz after a quarter of its residents were kidnapped or killed by Hamas during the Palestinian militant group's rampage through southern Israel a year ago. Bahat's home is one of six buildings in the kibbutz left unscathed.

At 6.30am on 7 October 2023 about 150 heavily armed Hamas fighters attacked Nir Oz from three directions, getting through Israel's defences by blowing up security cameras, automated weapons systems and motion detectors before mowing down the fence.

The first group of seven shot out the kibbutz guard post. The security team was quickly outnumbered and most were killed or taken hostage, leaving the community even more vulnerable as the wave of terror began.

Per person, the community at Nir Oz suffered the most heartache, damage and bloodshed, in part because the overwhelmed Israeli army "forgot" about the kibbutz. Soldiers did not show up for hours, by which time all the Hamas fighters, and later waves of civilians and looters, had left.

The Hamas assault on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and another 250 abducted to Gaza, for ever changed the region and the world. Its consequences are yet to fully unfold or be understood.