From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Groundbreaking ceremony for new Nir Oz neighborhood nixed due to fateful cabinet meeting
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
A groundbreaking ceremony for a new neighborhood in ravaged Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, is abruptly curtailed as the cabinet prepares to meet to discuss whether to move forward with a full-scale military occupation of Gaza.
The kibbutz was largely destroyed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists entered all but six of over 200 homes in the small community and either murdered or kidnapped one of every four residents — 117 people out of some 400. Of those abducted, 9 are still being held in Gaza, just five of them believed alive.
The ceremony for the new Pioneers neighborhood was planned in the presence of hostages released and the families of those still in captivity.
But a statement from the kibbutz spokesman says, “The cabinet is meeting to discuss a fateful decision, the occupation of the Gaza Strip, and we cannot continue with the normal order of the ceremony at such a time, and we cannot allow the country to continue as usual.”
The statement says that occupying Gaza will pose an “immediate risk” to those hostages still living. Without their return, the community will not be able to undergo rehabilitation, it adds.
The Times of Israel Community.