Holit attack

On the morning of 7 October 2023, militants from Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades attacked Holit, a small kibbutz near the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of a broader surprise assault on Israel. According to Wikipedia's account, sourced to an IDF investigation, about 60 militants took part in the attack, with an initial group of roughly 20 first spotted near the kibbutz at 6:45 a.m. by the kibbutz security coordinator, Avi Korin, and his deputy. IDF patrol vehicles were dispatched but were delayed by a locked gate and a stuck armored vehicle. At 6:59 a.m., militants breached the eastern perimeter fence and entered the kibbutz, beginning hours of killing, arson, and looting.

Over the following hours, militants went house to house, using gunfire to determine whether safe rooms were occupied, then attacking them with grenades and firearms; in several cases they set houses alight to force residents out. Sixteen people were killed in the attack, including three members of the security forces — kibbutz security coordinator Avi Korin, another security team member, and a reservist soldier — and three foreign workers, a Moldovan caregiver and two Nepali workers. The kibbutz's oldest resident, 91-year-old Holocaust survivor and retired police detective Moshe Ridler, was also killed, along with his Moldovan carer, Petro Busko. Israeli dual nationals from the United States, Canada, and Argentina were among the dead. Nine hostages were taken, including four Bedouin Israelis from the Ziyadne family and two foreign workers abducted from the kibbutz cowshed.

Some residents actively resisted; Adi Vital-Kaploun shot and killed a militant with her husband's rifle before being killed herself by other militants who entered her home. Hayim Katsman was killed shielding his neighbor Avital Aladjem from gunfire. Withawat Kunwong, a Thai kibbutz employee, survived a knife attack with severe throat wounds. Israeli forces, including tanks and Shaldag Unit commandos, arrived from around 1:53 p.m. and fought to clear the kibbutz through the afternoon, with militants retreating and taking some hostages, including Aladjem and Vital-Kaploun's two children, toward Gaza; Aladjem later led the children back to the kibbutz. About 20 militants were reported killed during the attack, according to the IDF investigation, with additional militants killed in nearby orchards over the following days.

Three hostages were released the same day after crossing into Gaza and returning; two more, from the Ziyadne family, were released during the Israeli–Palestinian prisoner exchange. The bodies of two remaining Ziyadne family hostages were recovered from Gaza on 8 January 2025. Survivors were evacuated first to Kibbutz Gvulot and later to Kibbutz Ein Gedi, where children received specialized trauma therapy. Reactions among affected families varied, with some — including relatives of Hayim Katsman — publicly calling for a ceasefire and diplomatic resolution, while others called for military retribution against Gaza.