Nahal Oz attack

Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza border, founded in 1951, with a nearby Israel Defense Forces (IDF) outpost located about 850 meters from the border. On 7 October 2023, as part of the broader October 7 attacks, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, joined by Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Saraya Al-Quds, attacked both the military base and the kibbutz. According to the Wikipedia account of the incident, the attack had been preceded by extensive intelligence gathering, including analysis of soldiers' social media posts, drone surveillance, and a captured planning document that mapped the base's layout and troop numbers under a Hamas operation codenamed "Operation 402."

At the military base, surveillance soldiers first spotted militants planting explosives at the border barrier at 6:31 a.m. Breaches in the barrier were created shortly after, and dozens of militants entered on motorbikes, trucks, and on foot. Base defenses were limited: only 81 of 162 soldiers present were combat-trained, and many soldiers, including women from Unit 414 of the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps, lacked handguns or rifles. Fighting continued for hours, including attacks on a bomb shelter housing female soldiers and the eventual burning of the base's command center with grenades and a toxic substance, killing 15 of 22 sheltering troops. Israeli Air Force drones, helicopters, and tanks were deployed throughout the battle, with reinforcements from the Paratroopers Brigade, Golani Brigade officers, and the Yamam counter-terrorism unit clearing the base by 5:00 p.m. In total, 53 IDF soldiers were killed at the base and ten were taken captive, while an estimated 71 Palestinian militants were reported killed there.

At the kibbutz itself, approximately 180 militants attacked, engaging the kibbutz's local security team and a stationed unit of Yamas Israel Border Police fighters. Defenders including security coordinator Ilan Fiorentino and Yamas commander Shlomo Yaakov Krasniansky were killed while resisting the initial assault; residents such as kibbutz founder Shlomo Ron were also killed. A Maglan commando team and later a larger force, joined by Givati Brigade reconnaissance troops, fought their way to the kibbutz, which was fully cleared of militants by 5:30 p.m. According to the IDF investigation released in March 2025, 13 kibbutz residents, including two security team members and two foreign nationals, were killed, with three of the dead attributed to friendly fire; eight kibbutz residents were taken hostage to Gaza. An estimated 80 militants were reported killed in and around the kibbutz.

Among captives taken from the base's Unit 414 observers, one was killed in captivity, one was rescued by an IDF raid weeks later, and five were released during the January 2025 ceasefire after more than 470 days in captivity. Three tank crew members taken from the base, two of them already dead, were returned in October 2025 under the Gaza peace plan. A UN investigation cited in the Wikipedia article found reasonable grounds that militants killed soldiers who were hors de combat during the base attack, and noted that the attack on the kibbutz's civilian homes was illegal under international law. Residents of Nahal Oz were permitted to return home under restrictions starting in April 2024.