Nir Oz Chairman: Majority of Residents Still Have Not Returned Nearly Three Years After Oct. 7

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Tzvi 'Tzviki' Tessler, chairman of Kibbutz Nir Oz, said in reporting published Friday, August 28, 2026 that the majority of the kibbutz's roughly 400 pre-war residents have still not returned home nearly three years after the October 7, 2023 attack, and many likely never will. Of those present on October 7, 69 were killed in the attack or after being taken hostage — about a quarter of the community, the highest per-capita toll of any single site that day. Tessler said many former residents are unable to return because of the trauma they experienced, telling reporters 'I didn't think it would take so much time to recover,' but that the community is 'not giving up' and that Nir Oz 'will prosper so that new families will come.' Homes burned and destroyed in the attack remain standing largely untouched, and while some veteran members and newcomers have moved back, the kibbutz has struggled to attract young families with children.