Gaza border kibbutzim mark first Shavuot without hostages

Nir Oz, Nahal Oz and Be’eri share images and moments of celebration from the harvest holiday festivities

Several kibbutz communities in the Gaza envelope celebrated the harvest holiday of Shavuot at home this year, marking the first time since the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, that there were no hostages held captive in Gaza.

Israel’s kibbutz communities have long celebrated Shavuot with ceremonies welcoming the harvest holiday in dance and song, mimicking scythes cutting wheat or farmers bearing baskets full of new fruit.

This year’s celebrations of the holiday that fell last week Thursday evening and Friday, were particularly poignant.

Kibbutz Nir Oz, the community hardest hit on October 7, with nearly a quarter of its residents killed or taken captive, held their celebration in two locations, in the urban neighborhood of Carmei Gat, where most of the surviving residents are living, and at home on the kibbutz, on the following day.

Their evening event included the traditional ceremony introducing babies born to the kibbutz in the past year, and a cheesecake competition, with dairy products a traditional staple of the holiday.

(The winning dessert was mini cheesecake loaves formed to look like haystacks.)

Kibbutz member Yamit Avital, whose brother-in-law was killed in battle on October 7, said in a speech that Nir Oz is celebrating Shavuot with several changes, and “perhaps this time we can finally use the word ‘celebration.’”

She noted the return from captivity of all the hostages, “some returning to rehabilitation, some to burial, and we can finally take a breath,” said Avital.

On Friday, Shavuot day, the community held its traditional tractor show and competitions at the kibbutz, marking the loss of kibbutz members who had worked in the fields and were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and during the ensuing war.

Besides the customary pageant featuring dances by the kibbutz teens and youth, the kibbutz held its annual soccer tournament, normally dedicated to a member who fell in the first Lebanon war and now also to the memories of Nir Oz members who played in the tournament over the years and were killed on and after October 7.

Former hostage Gadi Mozes, the 81-year-old agronomist who was released in January 2025 after 482 days in captivity, led a dove-release ceremony into the kibbutz fields, with the hope for peace along the Gaza border.

Neighboring Kibbutz Bee’ri also held its Shavuot celebrations, although in their temporary home in Kibbutz Hazerim, near Beersheba.

Kibbutz Nahal Oz finally celebrated the agricultural holiday at home, with nearly 1,000 people filling their fields, according to social media posts.

Their Shavuot ceremony featured more than 100 participants on stage — including kibbutz founders to babies born in the past year.

Besides the return of their traditional baby dances, kindergarten performances, and teen ensemble, the kibbutz honored the Thai farm workers, some of whom have long been part of their agricultural community.

Sixteen Thai workers were employed at the kibbutz when it was attacked on October 7, and have since returned to work at the agricultural community.