A DEFIANT resident of a kibbutz decimated by Hamas has vowed to return home – but admits she will live in fear of a repeat of October 7.
Vile Hamas terrorists attacked Nir Oz – just a mile from the Gaza border – from three directions, killing at random and torching homes.
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The Sun last month visited the kibbutz, which – more than a year and a half on from the atrocity – remains a heartbreaking memorial to the devastation and destruction Hamas inflicted.
I was shown around by resident Rita Lifshitz, whose father-in-law Oded was brutally kidnapped by Hamas and killed in captivity.
Rows of modest, single-storey homes sit burnt-out with debris and shards of glass strewn throughout the kibbutz.
Last month, the area’s management agreed with the Israeli state on a plan to invest over NIS 350 million (£70m) in redeveloping the community.
Only a handful of the 220 homes escaped the horror Hamas unleashed and more than a quarter of the kibbutz’s residents were either killed or taken hostage.
Rita insists that despite the kibbutz being just a stone’s throw from Gaza, survivors – including herself – will return one day.
She told The Sun: “Of course it’s scary, but we are strong and will be back.
“I will go to sleep in the night and of course I will wonder if I will wake up in the morning.
“But we refuse to live in fear of Hamas.”
Early on October 7, 2023, Hamas fighters tore through Israel’s defences – blowing up security cameras, automated weapons systems and motion detectors before mowing down the fence.
An IDF source in Tel Aviv told me it was “one of the biggest failures in Israel’s history”.
Rita has insisted security will need to be ramped up before residents can move back – including building an IDF base nearby.
She said: “First of all, this [the October 7 attack] should have been stopped by the security that is there. I don’t understand what happened here.
“So now they need to make it stronger, the security in the area, to keep us safe.
“We’ve been living under rockets for 20 years and we got used to it.
“But you cannot get used to terrorists that might come in again.
“So there has to be a much stronger security by the border, by our fields.
“Our fields are just by the fence [the divide with Gaza].
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What happened to Oded Lifshitz?
ODED, a long-term defender of Palestinian rights, and his wife Yocheved were viciously kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ warped October 7 massacre.
Yocheved, 85, was released 16 days later – but 83-year-old Oded, who suffered health issues, was cruelly kept in captivity in Gaza.
His bewildered family spent months praying for his freedom but were left heartbroken when his body was callously returned in a locked coffin by gun-toting Hamas monsters in February.
Journalist Oded died in Hamas captivity despite campaigning for the recognition of Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews.
Oded, whose doctor daughter Sharone lives in Walthamstow, East London, was at his home in the kibbutz which he helped found when unforgiving Hamas terrorists swept across the border.
Oded and Yocheved spent years driving sick Palestinians to hospitals in Israel for treatment, but in a twisted irony were hauled into the abyss of conflict.
Yocheved was taken on the back of a motorbike, and the final time she saw Oded he was lying at the edge of their home before he was also kidnapped.
While Yocheved returned to Israel two weeks later, the world waited with bated breath for news on Oded as well as Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir.
Warped Hamas officials claimed they were all killed in an Israeli airstrike without any proof.
Hopes father-of-four Oded and the Bibas family were still alive were shattered when Hamas revealed their bodies would be released in February during the ceasefire.
After 503 days of torment, Hamas handed over four coffins containing what was supposed to be the bodies of Oded, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir.
“So there should be army on this border all the time. And they should also build a base near us, by the fields.
“Hamas needs to be eliminated.”
Rita said it will take around three years to fully rehabilitate Nir Oz, whose residents have been relocated to temporary housing more than an hour’s drive away in Kiryat Gat.
She said: “There were only seven houses that were not touched out of 220.
“We need a new kindergarten, and the kitchen, supermarket and factory all have to be rebuilt again.
We’ve been living under rockets for 20 years and we got used to it. But you cannot get used to terrorists that might come in again.
Rita Lifshitz
“We’re already working in the gardens and we are trying to keep the kibbutz a bit alive.”
The redevelopment is being spearheaded by the Tekuma Directorate, set up to rebuild Gaza border communities.
Its director Aviad Friedman said reconstruction of Nir Oz, where Shiri Bibas and her boy Ariel and Kfir were snatched from – will be completed in three stages
Surviving residents of Nir Oz have vowed not to return until the remaining live hostages and the bodies of those killed were returned home.
Rita said: “Hamas must take down their weapons, start to build up Gaza and bring back our hostages.
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“Our hostages need to be back today, now.
“Hamas should stop the war. Israel should stop the war. Build up Gaza with no terror. Leave all those rockets. Leave all those weapons.”
It comes after Israeli prosecutors told The Sun how Hamas terrorists who unleashed carnage on Nir Oz could face the death penalty.
Israeli intelligence officers have worked tirelessly to scour piles of evidence collected since Hamas triggered war in October 2023.
Agents have been putting together a compelling case to charge multiple monsters who murdered and assaulted citizens after tearing through Israel’s defences.
Evidence found on laptops seized during military operations in Gaza has allowed intelligence chiefs to compile a strong case to go to trial.
At least 22 Hamas terrorists are set to be charged – all of whom attacked kibbutz Nir Oz.
If they are executed, it will be the first time Israel has exercised the death penalty in more than 60 years in a testament to the depth of depravity of the terror group’s crimes.
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