Nir Oz attack

On 7 October 2023, as part of a broader surprise attack on Israel, Palestinian militants led by Hamas invaded the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel, a community located less than 7 kilometers from the Gaza border. The kibbutz had 427 residents on 6 October, with 386 present during the attack. An estimated 500 militants and civilian looters, drawn in part by the spectacle of a disabled Israeli tank near the border, entered the kibbutz — a number that outnumbered its population and was unusually large compared to other communities attacked that day.

The assault began around 6:29 a.m. with a rocket barrage, under cover of which militants breached the border in six locations near Nir Oz. Militants disabled surveillance cameras, and by 6:57 a.m. had carried out the first killing inside the kibbutz, that of 74-year-old Bracha Levinson, which was livestreamed on her Facebook page. Militants also fired on vehicles carrying people fleeing the Psyduck music festival, killing several. At 7:27 a.m., militants entered the foreign workers' residences, killing twelve foreign nationals and kidnapping five. Hostage-taking began around 8:30 a.m. as militants set homes on fire and killed residents.

The kibbutz security team and armed residents, including Eran Smilansky and Yaron Maor, resisted but were outnumbered; a group of seven fighters delayed abductions for roughly two hours before being overwhelmed around 9:00 a.m. Four defenders were killed. Israeli Air Force helicopters and a tank engaged militants near the kibbutz and on the road to Gaza through the late morning; one helicopter strike on a tractor transporting hostages killed the militants aboard and hostage Efrat Katz. Militants began withdrawing to Gaza by 10:30 a.m., with the last known militant presence in the kibbutz at 12:30 p.m. IDF reinforcements, including Yamas, Egoz Unit, and Shayetet 13 forces, did not reach Nir Oz until after 1:00 p.m., by which time attackers had left; the incident was later described as a particularly severe failure of the IDF response on 7 October.

The overall death toll was 47, including six people who had fled the nearby music festival; including deaths in captivity, the total number of dead connected to the kibbutz was put at 69. Seventy-six people were abducted, of whom 67 were taken alive; nine were killed during or shortly after abduction, and 13 more later died in Gaza during the war. Forty hostages were released during a ceasefire in late November 2023. Prominent hostages included Alex Dancyg and Oded Lifshitz, who died in captivity, and the Bibas family, including infant Kfir Bibas. Noya Dan and her grandmother Carmela Dan, initially believed held hostage, were found dead by the IDF in Gaza on 19 October 2023. Judi and Gadi Haggai were also killed, with their bodies recovered in June 2025. Survivors were evacuated to Eilat, and militants and looters were reported to have entered all but six homes in the community.