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Nir Oz

Coordinates: 31°18′37″N 34°24′8″E / 31.31028°N 34.40222°E / 31.31028; 34.40222
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Nir Oz
נִיר עֹז‎
Nir Oz is located in Northwest Negev region of Israel
Nir Oz
Nir Oz
Nir Oz is located in Israel
Nir Oz
Nir Oz
Coordinates: 31°18′37″N 34°24′8″E / 31.31028°N 34.40222°E / 31.31028; 34.40222
CountryIsrael
DistrictSouthern
CouncilEshkol
AffiliationKibbutz Movement
Founded1 October 1955
Founded byNahal
Population
 (2022)[1]
380

Nir Oz (Hebrew: נִיר עֹז,, lit. 'Meadow of Strength') is a kibbutz in southern Israel. It is located in the northwestern Negev desert between Magen and Nirim, and covers 20,000 dunams. Nir Oz is under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 380.[1] The kibbutz developed a low-water intensity landscape, greening its relative region.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas invaded the kibbutz early on 7 October 2023, resulting in a massacre in which about one-quarter of Nir Oz's residents were killed or taken hostage.

History

Nir Oz in 1955
Nir Oz during Purim 2018

Prior to the 1948 Palestine war, the land belonged to the Palestinian village of Ma’in Abu Sitta.[2][3][4] Nir Oz was founded on 1 October 1955 as one of the first Nahal settlements.[5][6] It was established as a military outpost to guard the area between Nirim and Nir Yitzhak from Palestinian incursions.[7][6] The leftist Zionist Hashomer Hatzair took over Nir Oz in May 1957, with a founding group of 70 members[5][8][9] which included Oded Lifshitz.[10] Palestinians from Gaza worked on the kibbutz and constructed many of the buildings later damaged in the October 7 attacks.[7][11]

After the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip, Nir Oz again became a "border settlement"[8] and frequently received rocket and sniper fire from Gaza.[7][12] In 2008 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) asked the kibbutz to harvest its potatoes at night to lower the risk of attack.[13][7] On 5 June 2008 a mortar bomb fired from the Gaza Strip hit the Nirlat paint factory on the kibbutz, killing an employee and wounding four others. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.[14][15] In 2013, a tunnel from Gaza was found near Nir Oz.[16][17][7] James Fergusson reported in a 2023 book that the village had a number of "self-contained bomb shelters, each weighing 67 tons".[6]

In 2021, the kibbutz voted to privatize.[7] Residents were mostly liberal and did not vote for parties associated with Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.[7] Prior to the Gaza war, some residents volunteered to transport Palestinians from Gaza to receive medical care in Israel.[2][18]

2023 Hamas attack

Main article: Nir Oz attack
Items of the kibbutz looted by Palestinians and discarded in a nearby field
A home burnt by Hamas in October 7

By percent of population, Nir Oz had one of the highest death tolls in the October 7 attacks.[19][7] About one quarter of the 400 residents of Nir Oz were killed or abducted.[7][2][20] About a third of all hostages taken on October 7 were from Nir Oz,[21][12] including the Bibas family[20] and Oded Lifshitz.[18] The IDF did not arrive on the scene until at least 40 minutes after the attack was over.[22][7] The surviving kibbutz members were evacuated to Eilat.[23][24] In January 2024, many moved to Kiryat Gal.[20][25][12]

The authority responsible for the rehabilitation of Israeli communities affected by the Hamas attack has estimated that it will take two years to fully rebuild Nir Oz.[26][20] As of March 2025, only eight residents had returned,[11] and the kibbutz did not yet have a reconstruction plan due to a lack of funding from the Israeli government.[27]

Economy

Nir Oz has agricultural enterprises, a paint factory, and an engineering firm.[28] It is known as a major grower of asparagus.[29][12][30] The kibbutz kept a flock of turkeys that escaped or were released during the 2023 Hamas attack and are now roaming freely.[31] The agricultural workers were at one time Gazan, but in recent years workers from Thailand have been employed instead.[6]

As of 2023, the kibbutz was beginning to market itself as an ecotourism destination; agronomist Ran Pauker would provide information about the kibbutz's 900 species of desert-appropriate plantings.[32] Ran Pauker is one of the co-authors of one of the chapters of a 2001 book on combating desertification (sometimes described as oasification) with site-appropriate landscape design.[33][34][35]

Drinking water is provided from a desalination plant at Ashkelon; irrigation is performed with recycled water from the Shafdan wastewater treatment plant (for more on Shafdan see here).[6]

Ecosystem

In 1960 Nir Oz introduced a long-term water saving gardening project on 27 acres (110,000 m2) of kibbutz land. Some 750 drought-resistant plants have been tested. The garden, designed by landscape architect Hayyim Kahanovich, uses only 50 percent of the water used in the centre and north of the country. The project is conducted in cooperation with Ben Gurion University of the Negev and serves as a study and observation site for researchers, gardeners, teachers and students from all over the country.[36]

In 2011 the site was part of a program designed to reduce the sight lines of possible assaults launched from Gaza, by way of an Israeli eucalyptus-planting program designed to yield increased tree cover in the western Negev Desert.[37] By 2023, the kibbutz had 65 species of eucalyptus "grown from seed imported from South Africa, South America, [and] Baja California."[6]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c McKernan, Bethan (4 October 2024). "'Time stopped here on 7 October': life in kibbutz that endured unimaginable loss one year ago". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  3. ^ Huss, Michal; Altehe, Sleman (1 October 2024). "On spaciocide and resistance: Between Bi'r as-Sab'a and Gaza". Political Geography. 114: 103186. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103186. ISSN 0962-6298.
  4. ^ Nayyar, Rhea (20 June 2024). "Artist Chaim Peri Among Four Israeli Hostages Confirmed Dead". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  5. ^ a b Hoare, Liam (August 2013). "Southern Kibbutzim, Under Fire and Losing Faith". The Tower. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Fergusson, James (2023). In Search of the River Jordan: A Story of Palestine, Israel and the Struggle for Water. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. pp. 251 (eucalyptus, desalination, irrigation, bomb shelters), 253 (Thai agricultural workers). ISBN 978-0-300-26270-4. LCCN 2023930267.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rosenfeld, Arno (4 October 2024). "American Jews asked to pick sides in wrenching debate over how to rebuild kibbutz hit hardest on Oct. 7". The Forward. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Lives on the Line". Haaretz. 10 December 2004. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024.
  9. ^ Hoare, Liam (17 March 2015). "Left in the Dust". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  10. ^ Gorenberg, Gershom (26 February 2025). "The Hostage I Knew". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 26 February 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  11. ^ a b Varadarajan, Tunku (7 March 2025). "Opinion | Stirrings of Life Amid the Oct. 7 Wreckage of Nir Oz". WSJ. Archived from the original on 9 March 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d "'This is what the war has done': How October 7 forever changed Israel and Gaza". Christian Science Monitor. 7 October 2024. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  13. ^ Eyadat, Fadi (23 April 2008). "The moon works against Nir Oz farmers". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Father of 3 killed in mortar attack, IAF strike kills girl in Gaza". ynet. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  15. ^ "4 Palestinians Killed, 1 Israeli Hurt as Clashes Continue in South". Haaretz. 12 June 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
  16. ^ Shmulovich, Michal (15 January 2013). "Large terror tunnel from Gaza discovered near kibbutz". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  17. ^ Cohen, Gili (13 October 2013). "IDF soldiers uncover and destroy Gaza tunnel leading into Israel". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Palestinian Islamic Jihad releases remains of hostage Oded Lifshitz". Times of Israel. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Nir Oz begins long process of rebuilding from Oct. 7 attacks". PBS News. 4 February 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  20. ^ a b c d Lidor, Canaan (4 January 2024). "Survivors of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a desert oasis, move into Kiryat Gat apartment towers". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  21. ^ "'We are officially hostages.' How the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz embodied Hamas' hostage strategy". AP News. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  22. ^ Kubovich, Yaniv (14 March 2025). "The Forces That Didn't Come, the Command That Collapsed | IDF Investigation Into Nir Oz Reveals an Exceptional Failure – Even Compared to Oct. 7". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 14 March 2025.
  23. ^ Klingbail, Sivan (10 October 2023). "My Kibbutz Was Erased: I Never Imagined I'd Write This". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  24. ^ Sudilovsky, Judith (18 November 2023). "Members of Kibbutz Nir Oz come to grips with massacre". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  25. ^ "Nir Oz residents stand with broken hearts as slain hostages return home". The Jerusalem Post. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  26. ^ Hasson, Nir (26 October 2023). "Rebuilding Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Israeli-Gaza border will take two years, residents told". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  27. ^ Solomon, Eden (24 March 2025). "Israeli Gov't Funding for Kibbutz Nir Oz Reconstruction Falls $54 Million Short". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 24 March 2025.
  28. ^ "Ruins and memories of a paradise lost in an Israeli village where attackers killed, kidnapped dozens". AP News. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  29. ^ "Digging for white gold". Haaretz. 25 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2025.
  30. ^ "How the horror of Hamas – and Israel's revenge – unfolded". The Independent. 14 October 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  31. ^ Lachmanovitch, Omer; Dagon, Uri (15 October 2023). "'This is where the killer stood and slaughtered the children': A haunting visit to a decimated community". www.israelhayom.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  32. ^ "Green Point - A Water Saving Ecological Garden - Enjoying Israel". www.enjoyingisrael.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  33. ^ "Water-wise Landscaping". platform.almanhal.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  34. ^ Pasternak, D.; Schlissel, Arnold (6 December 2012). Combating Desertification with Plants. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4615-1327-8. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  35. ^ Pasternak, Dov; Schlissel, Arnold, eds. (2001). "Combating Desertification with Plants". SpringerLink. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-1327-8. ISBN 978-1-4613-5499-4. S2CID 21504405. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Water-wise gardening in Kibbutz Nir Oz". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Ministry of Environmental Protection
  37. ^ "Lifesaving Trees - Tree Plantings to Protect Western Negev Residents". www.wildflowers.co.il. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
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