Couple Moves Back to Ravaged Kibbutz Three Months After Oct. 7 Massacre

The first residents of the desolated southern Israeli town of Kfar Aza, located near the Gaza border, have returned home three months after their community was devastated by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.

The couple, Eilat Cohen and Shahar Shnorman, told Hebrew-language media they “decided to return because we don’t like being refugees.”

The kibbutz was one of the most ravaged by Hamas on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group invaded from Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 240 others as hostages. Over 70 people were murdered in their homes in the kibbutz.

The town was almost completely destroyed and burned down during the terrorists’ rampage. Since then, it has served as a temporary home for soldiers entering and leaving Gaza, where Israeli forces are waging a military campaign to wipe out Hamas following the Oct. 7 onslaught.

Israeli officials have also taken foreign dignitaries and journalists to Kfar Aza to tour the remains of the community to see the brutality inflicted by Hamas.

Shnorman said that when he decided to return, “I didn’t ask the army, but the army knows we are here, because once a week we host everyone in the kibbutz for a barbecue. Whoever comes is welcome.”

After being evacuated to Tel Aviv with other members of his kibbutz, he said he “sleep better here than I’ve slept anywhere else. In Tel Aviv there’s car noise.”

Cohen, meanwhile, was born and raised in the kibbutz, so its proximity to Gaza and the sounds of the wars that have been fought there are not new to her. “When you live here, you get used to it,” she said.

The couple was hiding in their safe room for more than 30 hours after Hamas invaded, only leaving a few times before fully grasping the situation and even finding a neighbor murdered in her home.

“We felt that we were abandoned. We were sitting here without electricity, without water,” the couple recounted, describing the fear they felt. “As far as we are concerned, the end of the world has come and we are sitting in some dark cave. Who knows if we will ever get out of it?”

Fortunately, the terrorists did not enter their home, and it is one of the few still standing. However, they were forced to evacuate with the remaining survivors, all of whom remain outside of the kibbutz.

Asked if they were hesitant to return, Shnorman said, “It is much easier to live in northern Greece, but here is home. You can only leave home in good times; in bad times you must be at home.”

Since the kibbutz is still abandoned, they are unable to work — especially since most of the neighboring towns are also abandoned. In such an environment, it is difficult to find food, though they are making do.

Cohen said to keep up good spirits, she made a WhatsApp group with kibbutz members called “Good Morning Kfar Aza.” In it, she posts pleasant pictures of the kibbutz and its surrounding nature, hoping to uplift residents.

The post Couple Moves Back to Ravaged Kibbutz Three Months After Oct. 7 Massacre first appeared on Algemeiner.com.