Walking across endless charred rubble and looking up at more bullet holes than I could count, my stomach turned. For almost seven decades, kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel was a haven for its 400 residents. But their paradise just a mile from the Gaza border was torn apart on October 7, 2023. Dozens of Hamas terrorists stormed the village – killing at random and inflicting a wound that may never fully heal in one of the darkest days in Israel’s history. Early that morning, the kibbutz was attacked from three directions after Hamas fighters tore through Israel’s defences.
