At ground zero: Netanyahu faces protests in first visit to Hamas-raided kibbutz Nir Oz

As the Israel-Hamas war continues to rage on, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz , the hardest hit town during Hamas’s October 7 attack in the Jewish nation’s south. Netanyahu’s visit came 636 days after the town was ravaged by Hamas terrorists, in the shocking infiltration that eventually triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

However, the Israeli premier did not receive a warm welcome in the community as he encountered angry residents who urged him to bring back all the hostages from Gaza . In the emotionally charged visit, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, toured the kibbutz, walking through the ravaged, burned-out homes with residents and family members, who shared their stories.

During the October 7 attack , 117 of 400 residents of the town were either kidnapped or murdered. Not only this, nine of the town’s residents are still under captivity in Gaza. Since the start of the war, most government politicians, including the prime minister, have stayed away from Nir Oz, given the widespread carnage. Hence, Netanyahu’s visit turned many heads.

Netanyahu receives a not-so-warm welcome

According to The Times of Israel, demonstrators gathered at the kibbutz entrance, compelling the Israeli premier’s entourage to enter Nir Oz through a back gate. However, he still saw signs calling him “Mr. Abandonment” in the background. Meanwhile, protesters were heard jeering the prime minister, calling him a “disgrace” and denouncing him as “corrupt,” an “abandoner,” and a “murderer” as the vehicles drove by.

During Netanyahu’s visit, a protester with a loudspeaker went on to denounce Netanyahu over the failure to anticipate the October 7 attack and the ongoing inability to bring home the hostages, vowing the community “won’t forget.” While sitting down with the victims of the October 7 attack, freed hostages and the relatives of victims of the kibbutz urged Netanyahu to end the war and bring all captives home.

Some of them also confronted the Israeli premier over his refusal to establish a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7. Nili Margalit, a nurse who was freed from captivity in November 2023, told the prime minister she promised five of the Nir Oz hostages she was held with that she would “do everything possible to get them out of there," The Times of Israel reported.

She eventually told Channel 12 that she refused to shake the prime minister’s hand at the end of the meeting. Margalit emphasised that she had apologised to Netanyahu for not doing so, but that “it hurts too much.”

“I saw, I was with them. It was possible to bring them back with a deal, and therefore, I am here for my friends who are still not here,” she told Netanyahu. “Ariel [Cunio], and David [Cunio], and Eitan [Horn], and Matan [Zangauker], and all the rest — we need to bring them back before it’s too late. You have an opportunity to travel to Washington and sign a deal to bring everyone back. Everyone,” she said, referring to the prime minister’s scheduled trip to the White House next week.

“I want to speak about responsibility. For responsibility, you need to direct your gaze, you need to see, and therefore, this visit is important,” she furthered. “But Prime Minister, where is your responsibility?” She also pointed out how hard the lives of captives are in Gaza.

“I know what hunger, desperation, daily psychological abuse, and lack of hope are,” she stated. “I think the first step of taking responsibility is to establish a state commission of inquiry. The families of the fallen, the families of the murdered, the orphans, the widows, the bereaved siblings deserve it, to know what happened and is still happening in Israel over the past two years,” she averred.

‘This Kibbutz will rise again’: Netanyahu

After quietly listening to the plight of the Nir Oz residents, Netanyahu vowed to bring back hostages from Gaza. “From our point of view, there is an agreement, we are hoping to declare [the ceasefire ] soon,” he told the residents.

“I’m here with my wife, Sarah, in Kibbutz Nir Oz in front of the destruction and slaughter. [Standing here], you feel it in the depths of your soul. The vastness of the pain, the depth of sorrow, the trauma that hasn’t healed. Standing here, I feel a deep responsibility to return all of the hostages. There are 20 live hostages and there are dead hostages. We will bring them all home,” the Israeli premier said.

“We need to work hard so that this kibbutz will rise again, and it will rise again,” he concluded. According to The Jerusalem Post, the residents of the Kibbutz emphasised that for months they had sent personal invitations to the prime minister to visit the town.

Hence, following Netanyahu’s visit, the kibbutz said in a statement that its members expect renewed efforts to free the hostages. “We expect that this visit will promote the return of the 50 hostages, including nine from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and that the Israeli government will be committed to the reconstruction of the kibbutz and the rehabilitation of its people, wherever they choose to live,” the statement reads.