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The IDF on Thursday presented residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz with its findings in the investigation into the October 7 Hamas massacre on the kibbutz, which suffered the results of the military’s most severe failures.
One in four residents was either kidnapped or murdered and no military forces arrived or engaged in combat there until 1 p.m. hours after the terrorists invaded. Former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and outgoing IDF Southern Command chief Yaron Finkelman were in attendance.
"We salute you. The alert squad is supposed to handle a small problem for a short time until the IDF arrives quickly – and we didn't arrive," Halevi said.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Eran Niv, who headed the probe was also there and he too began his presentation with an apology. Residents were required to leave their phones at the entrance to the hall where they gathered to hear the inquiry's conclusions. Mental health professionals were stationed outside to provide support.
Among those present were former hostages from the kibbutz, including Gadi Mozes, Adina Moshe, Nili Margalit, Tami Metzger, Ada Sagi and Margalit Moses.
"It didn’t tell us much new. They were completely open and kept apologizing. They said, 'We failed,' — and that word came up 13 times," a Nir Oz resident told Ynet. "There’s a lot of anger and tough questions from the residents. I feel awful, but they’re answering all our questions. They’re telling us everything they know, but they can only provide information about themselves — we need a state commission of inquiry."
Daniel Lifshitz, grandson of former hostage Oded Lifshitz, who was murdered in captivity and whose remains were returned to Israel, said before the meeting began that the main question was why no one came to Nir Oz. "We need the names of those responsible for this catastrophe. I want to see full accountability," he said.
"It's important to finish this investigation and keep up the pressure to bring the hostages home. We just want to understand what happened — how is it possible that our internal security team fought for hours against hundreds of terrorists when they were trained for, at most, a 15-minute battle against a few dozen? There’s a huge gap here that needs serious answers."
Yael Eder, mother of Tamir Eder, who fought in the kibbutz’s alert squad, was murdered, and kidnapped, told Ynet she wanted to know that former chief of staff Halevi remains committed to securing her son’s return.
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"Even after they resign, they must stay committed as citizens. My children didn’t get to say goodbye to him and he needs to be brought back so they can. That’s the duty of the Israeli government and everyone who was in office on October 7."
She said she told Halevi at the end of the six-and-a-half-hour briefing that if her son is not brought home, "all of this was for nothing." Halevi responded that Tamir's actions weren’t in vain because the local squad saved lives.
"It was important that they didn’t shy away from the discussion. They stood there, spoke honestly and apologized," Natan Bahat, one of the kibbutz founders, said. "They admitted it was a systemic failure, a mindset. They kept repeating the word ‘failure.’"
Nir Oz, which was left completely unprotected during Hamas’s surprise attack, was at the center of the assault on Gaza border communities. Hundreds of terrorists stormed the kibbutz and occupied it for hours.
By the time IDF forces first arrived, there was no one left to save. The terrorists and looters had already left after and there was no battle between the IDF and the terrorists, unlike in other communities.
The death toll was devastating: 57 people were murdered, including at least seven who were kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity. Some 76 were abducted and five hostages from Nir Oz remain alive in captivity: Eitan Horn, Matan Zangauker, David and Ariel Cunio and a Thai national.
Nine of the Nir Oz residents who were murdered in captivity are Judih Weinstein Hagga, Aryeh Zalmanovich, Eliyahu Margalit, Gadi Hagi, Yair Yaakov, Ronen Engel, Aviv Atzili, Tamir Eder and Amiram Cooper.