Three years on, Nir Oz and Be'eri rebuild after 7 October attacks
Three years after the 7 October 2023 attacks, the kibbutzim of Nir Oz and Be'eri are rebuilding, with some residents back, many homes demolished and open questions over what to preserve as memorials.
1 / 2
The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Three years after the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, Kibbutz Nir Oz, about a mile (1.6km) from the Gaza border, is being rebuilt, and some survivors have returned. BBC NewsN “Three years on from the attack on Nir Oz, in which 47 people were killed and 76 taken hostage, some survivors have returned to live there.” Read at BBC News ↗ JNSR “The rebuilding has begun, but the process is still at an early stage.” Read at JNS ↗ Centre · 1The BBC reports that 41 Nir Oz residents and foreign workers were killed, along with six people who had fled to the kibbutz from a nearby party, and that 76 people from the kibbutz were kidnapped to Gaza. BBC NewsN “Forty-one Nir Oz residents and foreign workers were killed, along with six people who had fled to the kibbutz from a party nearby.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1The BBC says the last living hostages from Nir Oz returned to Israel on 13 October 2025, and that this anniversary is the first with no hostages left in Gaza. BBC NewsN “The last living hostages from Nir Oz were returned to Israel on 13 October 2025”“This anniversary of the attacks is the first with no hostages remaining in Gaza.” Read at BBC News ↗
Centre · 1Emi Palmor, director of the Nir Oz rebuilding project, said attackers entered 97% of households and burned almost 50%, and called it the only place in Israel that must be completely demolished and replanned. BBC NewsN “"Terrorists penetrated 97% of the households and burned down almost 50%," says Emi Palmor, director of the rebuilding project.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1Dozens of fire-damaged homes have been torn down, leaving rows of reinforced concrete safe rooms. With 20 houses renovated or rebuilt, a few former hostages, including Gadi Moses and Yair Horn, have come back, though many bereaved residents have left for good. BBC NewsN “Dozens of fire-damaged homes, which were simple, one-storey buildings in Nir Oz, have now been torn down”“with 20 houses renovated or rebuilt, a few former hostages have come back to live here.” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1Residents are divided over memory. Dalit Ram Aharon and her husband Achi want some damaged houses kept as evidence. Palmor describes a painful debate between those who want a serene landscape and those who fear that removing the last ruined houses will let people deny what happened. BBC NewsN “The Aharons want some damaged houses to be left as evidence of what took place.”“"It's a huge debate – a very painful debate,"” Read at BBC News ↗
Right · 1JNS contributor Ratnadeep Chakraborty, who first visited in the days after the attacks, returned the day before Simchat Torah this year and found that in Nir Oz, unlike Be'eri, many damaged homes still stand, with new houses under construction and much of the kibbutz empty. JNSR “Unlike Be’eri, where much of the physical destruction has already been cleared away, several parts of Nir Oz still look remarkably similar”“New houses are under construction, and a small number of residents have returned, but much of the kibbutz remains empty.” Read at JNS ↗ Right · 1In Be'eri, kibbutz secretary Gal Cohen told JNS that 132 houses were burned or destroyed and the kibbutz decided to build the same number of new homes. Around 100 people live there again, and many others are housed temporarily at Kibbutz Hatzerim near Beersheva or elsewhere. JNSR “Cohen told me that 132 houses had been burned or destroyed and that the kibbutz decided to build the same number of new homes.”“Around 100 people are currently living again in Be’eri” Read at JNS ↗ Right · 1Be'eri is investing in safer shelters, replacement doors and smoke-removal systems, because many residents were killed after attackers broke into or burned safe-room doors. Psychologists are helping families who disagree about returning. JNSR “the kibbutz is now investing heavily in improving shelters, replacing doors and installing systems designed to remove smoke in the event of another attack.”“Psychologists are helping families navigate those differences” Read at JNS ↗
Centre · 1The BBC places the rebuilding against unresolved issues. Nir Oz residents favour a comprehensive state commission of inquiry and still have major security concerns. Survivors suffer post-traumatic stress, and the Gaza war continues to cause deaths despite a US-brokered ceasefire. The Aharons, displaced in a northern town, face a two-year wait for Nir Oz to reopen fully. BBC NewsN “People from Nir Oz favour a comprehensive state commission of inquiry and still have major security concerns.”“face a two-year wait for Nir Oz to reopen fully.” Read at BBC News ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- BBC News profiles Nir Oz survivors, mixing grief, the memorial-versus-erasure debate and the wider political context of Gaza and Israeli accountability.
- Emphasis
- Personal testimony, the attack's toll, the failure of the army to arrive, the rebuilding debate, and Gaza war casualties.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Little on security upgrades or on Be'eri's rebuilding.
- Charged language
- “pure hatred”
Right1 outlet
- Framing
- JNS runs a first-person feature by a visiting author that frames rebuilding as resilience and an act of defiance.
- Emphasis
- Graphic accounts of the aftermath, Be'eri's reconstruction and security upgrades, and the psychological difficulty of returning.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not discuss Gaza casualties, the ceasefire, or accountability for the security failure.
- Charged language
- “Hamas terrorists”“massacre”“an act of defiance”
What every side reports
- Nir Oz was among the worst-hit communities on 7 October 2023, losing more than a quarter of its population to killing or abduction.
- Many burned homes in Nir Oz have been or will be demolished, with new construction under way.
- Only some residents have returned; others remain displaced.
- Residents debate how much of the destruction to preserve as memorial.
Where accounts differ
-
Whether Nir Oz's destruction was largely cleared
- Centre
- BBC says dozens of fire-damaged homes have been torn down, with 20 houses renovated or rebuilt.
- Right
- JNS says several parts of Nir Oz still look much as they did after the attack, with damaged homes standing.
Israel1 outlet
JNS offers an Israel-based feature stressing resilience and security upgrades.
“the kibbutz is now investing heavily in improving shelters” — JNS
JNS
UK and Ireland1 outlet
BBC adds regional context on the Gaza war, ceasefire impasse and accountability demands.
“US President Donald Trump's peace plan is at an impasse.” — BBC News
BBC News
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre1 article
-
Residents of kibbutz destroyed in 7 October Hamas-led attacks grapple with how to rebuild
Sympathetic Survivor-centred report on Nir Oz's rebuilding that adds wider context on the war, ceasefire and accountability.
Right1 article
-
JNSR ·
The slow rebuild: Back to Oct. 7 kibbutzim
Sympathetic First-person feature on returning to Be'eri and Nir Oz, presenting rebuilding as resilience and defiance.
- 6 Oct 20:30 First JNSR The slow rebuild: Back to Oct. 7 kibbutzim
- 7 Oct 06:02 +9h 32m BBC NewsN Residents of kibbutz destroyed in 7 October Hamas-led attacks grapple with how to rebuild
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.