Nahal Oz Close to Border of Gaza Strip and The Attack

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 471.  It was attacked on October 7, 2023 along with others along the Gaza Strip.

               From Tel Aviv to Nahal Oz is 1 hr 34 min (74.4 mi)

i-24 News just gave us a situation that brought tears to my eyes.  Evidently the homes here were well planned for safety from Gaza.  They have suffered from many rocket attacks like the other residences.  They have a bomb shelter made of concrete-a room with planned window, and where young children automatically have as the nursery.  Their small babies were already asleep when rocket sounds started and the parents went into their room.  

Next thing was hearing Arabic yelling outside their window.  All the doors of the house were locked tight, they knew.  Lights were out, but still the banging and yelling.  The young man was able to call his parents in Tel Aviv and let them know what was happening.  His father was a retired general, about age 60.  They were on their way to save them all.

Grandmother and father jumped in their car and headed for the Gaza Strip area. The Grandfather, the general, grabbed his pistol.  On the way they were stopped several times by helping Israelis injured who flagged them down and got them to the hospital.  

Finally they arrived and found a unit of 10 soldiers on guard now trying assist the residents.   They had picked up 3 of Oz's men who were of security and thus had a band of 13 against the 100 terrorists at hand. The general helped them clear each home of terrorists, made them safe again and finally reached his own son's home.  

Both parents of our young man of Oz had been helping their son and their community.  This kibbutz was  founded in 1951 as the country's first Nahal settlement. It was initially referred to as Nahlayim Mul Aza (Hebrew: נחלאים מול עזה, lit. Nahal soldiers across from Gaza). In 1953 it became a civilian community.  In April 1956, the kibbutz security officer Ro'i Rothberg was ambushed and killed by infiltrators from Gaza. 

General Moshe Dayan (1915-1981)  in  Haganah;   member,Founder of  Palmah, Lost his eye in 1941 in British army in Lebanon; repelled Syrian army from Jordan Valley;  chief of general staff of IDF 1953-1958;  1956 Sinai operation leader;  Just before War 1967 was Minister of Defense-resigned in 1974.  

Rutenberg's funeral of April 1956  was attended by Moshe Dayan, then Chief of Staff, who gave a widely acclaimed eulogy which called upon Israel to search its soul and probe the national mindset. 

"Early yesterday morning Roi was murdered. The quiet of the spring morning dazzled him and he did not see those waiting in ambush for him, at the edge of the furrow. Let us not cast the blame on the murderers today. Why should we declare their burning hatred for us? For eight years they have been sitting in the refugee camps in Gaza, and before their eyes we have been transforming the lands and the villages, where they and their fathers dwelt, into our estate. It is not among the Arabs in Gaza, but in our own midst that we must seek Roi's blood. How did we shut our eyes and refuse to look squarely at our fate, and see, in all its brutality, the destiny of our generation? Have we forgotten that this group of young people dwelling at Nahal Oz is bearing the heavy gates of Gaza on its shoulders? Beyond the furrow of the border, a sea of hatred and desire for revenge is swelling, awaiting the day when serenity will dull our path, for the day when we will heed the ambassadors of malevolent hypocrisy who call upon us to lay down our arms. Roi's blood is crying out to us and only to us from his torn body. Although we have sworn a thousandfold that our blood shall not flow in vain, yesterday again we were tempted, we listened, we believed.

We will make our reckoning with ourselves today; we are a generation that settles the land and without the steel helmet and the cannon's maw, we will not be able to plant a tree and build a home. Let us not be deterred from seeing the loathing that is inflaming and filling the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who live around us. Let us not avert our eyes lest our arms weaken. This is the fate of our generation. This is our life's choice - to be prepared and armed, strong and determined, lest the sword be stricken from our fist and our lives cut down. The young Roi who left Tel Aviv to build his home at the gates of Gaza to be a wall for us was blinded by the light in his heart and he did not see the flash of the sword. The yearning for peace deafened his ears and he did not hear the voice of murder waiting in ambush. The gates of Gaza weighed too heavily on his shoulders and overcame him."

What a warning, and from Moshe Dayan himself.