The community of Kibbutz Nir Oz completed today (Tuesday) the transition to temporary housing in the Carmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat. The crossing was marked by a welcome ceremony on behalf of the municipality. The residents occupy two residential towers in the Carmei Gat neighborhood, near which a designated area will be built for the use of kibbutz members, including a dining room, kindergartens, study and leisure rooms, and more.
Joy mixed with sadness: Nir Oz community completes move to Kiryat Gat // Photo: Ran Shauli
Hundreds of Kiryat Gat residents excitedly escorted the bus on which the kibbutz members arrived, standing by the side of the road waving flags.
A tribe of brothers and sisters
"We want to be unanimous for each other and it's important for us to be for Nir Oz," says Batya Tenenbaum, a resident of the city. "It is important for us to embrace and help where possible because at the end of the day, all of Israel are brothers and we are each other's help, and from here we will grow together."
The Nir Oz community completed the move to Kiryat Gat, photo: Ella Meirovitz
The kibbutz residents said goodbye in tears to the employees of the hotel where they had lived for the past three months. "It's hard to say goodbye to gorgeous people. People embraced us and gave us a feeling of home. Sad to leave. We're moving into our own homes, making omelets at home, but it's sad to leave."
"We've known them for three months, it's like saying goodbye to a family," said other residents. "It's sad, but also joyful. We have people still missing and we leave with mixed feelings. But it's important to remember that we're moving on to the next level."
The mayor received the new residents with warm greetings along with the trust of their absorption in the city, Moria Zaguri, chairman of the Yiftach Development Company Kiryat Gat.
The Nir Oz community completed the move to Kiryat Gat, photo: Ella Meirovitz
"In the midst of the darkness, we found a spark of light and an opportunity for the growth of a strong and forged society. When the opportunity we got was a gathering of Kiryat Gat residents and residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz for a shared life, even if temporary, here in the city."
He added that this is "a melting pot that no one could have imagined, which we enter with great love and anticipation. Leftists and rightists, ultra-Orthodox and secular, will live side by side, and their children will grow up playing together in the same neighborhood. A tribe of brothers and sisters. You are received with love."
Osnat Peri, Chairman of Kibbutz Nir Oz, said: "The kibbutz community moved this morning from the Isrotel Red Sea Hotel to the Carmei Gat neighborhood in Kiryat Gat. It may seem like the beginning of a routine, but for us, there will be no routine until the last of the abductees returns."
The Nir Oz community completed the move to Kiryat Gat, photo: Ella Meirovitz
"All of Israel's abductees, including those abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, need to go home now," she added. "We thank the Kiryat Gat Municipality for their hospitality and thank all the hundreds of bodies, partners and volunteers who took part in the preparations for our arrival here. This is not a simple event for us, and thanks to the people of Israel, it is a little simpler."
Kibbutz Nir Oz was one of the communities hardest hit on Black Saturday. For more than 12 hours, the kibbutz was under murderous attack by Hamas terrorists, and almost a third of the residents were murdered or kidnapped. After the massacre, most of the residents were evacuated from their homes to hotels in Eilat, and have since settled there, while others settled with relatives or other temporary housing solutions.
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