Homecoming kits given to kibbutz residents returning to Gaza border area

Seeds for planting, calming herbal tea, a purification kit and cards that encourage a family ceremony have been combined into a homecoming kit for evacuees returning to the Gaza border kibbutzim.

“The kit is our way of telling the families, ‘We are with you,’ and providing them with a soft layer of support during the moving and challenging moment of returning home,” explained Ayelet Harris, Head of the Kibbutz Movement’s Society and Community Division, which is spearheading the initiative together with the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund and Bituach Haklai, the agricultural insurance arm of the kibbutzim and moshavim.

Many homes along the Gaza border were desecrated and damaged on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded area communities, murdering 1,200 mainly civilians and abducting 251 to the Gaza Strip.

In the wake of the massacre, thousands of residents were evacuated from their homes and communities as fighting raged.

“Many of the residents and families who spent long hours in their protected rooms during the massacre are now returning not only to rebuild the physical structure of their homes, but also the sense of security, belonging and community,” a statement from the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund said.

The kits aimed to help residents turn their houses back into homes, the statement added.

“We are engaged not only in physical construction, but also in rehabilitating the spirit,” said Neri Shotan, CEO of the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund.

“Just as we support initiatives related to infrastructure, education, employment and other projects, we place supreme importance on investing in the emotional rehabilitation of the communities, which are the beating heart of the kibbutzim,” Shotan said.

“We are here for them, for the long term, to ensure that every family returns and finds in their home not just a roof over their head, but also a sense of belonging, security and hope,” he said.