Kibbutz Re’im members leave temporary homes in Tel Aviv, head home to ‘safer’ south

In a bizarre turn of events, many residents of Kibbutz Re’im, a Gaza border community targeted in the October 7, 2023, onslaught, have over the past two days left their temporary accommodation in two towers in south Tel Aviv and headed home, according to the kibbutz secretary.

“Most of the community is in Re’im at the moment,” Zohar Mizrahi tells The Times of Israel. She adds, “It’s not clear whether they will stay or go back to Tel Aviv.”

Re’im is the first of eight border communities to which the state expects members and residents to return this summer, following renovations to buildings damaged during the Hamas-led invasion and massacre.

Until Friday, when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military targets and the Islamic Republic began firing ballistic missiles at the Jewish state in retaliation, around 200 out of 428 residents had returned to Re’im, with 170 still residing in the Tel Aviv tower blocks or elsewhere in the country.

However, the damage caused by Iranian missiles that have made it past Israel’s aerial defenses has so far been to buildings in the center and north of the country.