Last families leave Kibbutz Nahal Oz, day after 4-year-old killed there

Earlier Saturday night, ToI reported that as more and more families in southern communities and in towns near the Gaza Strip border choose to depart from the area for fear of rocket attacks, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon stated that the IDF will provide assistance to fleeing civilians in order to ease their move up north.

Speaking during a visit to towns in the south, Ya’alon said that although authorities did not specifically recommend that residents in the vicinity of the Palestinian enclave evacuate their homes, a decision to leave the area would be met with support and understanding on the government’s part.

Ya’alon added that the ongoing IDF operation in the Gaza Strip was, at this point, aimed at forcing Hamas to accept a ceasefire on Israel’s terms. “The goal of the [Israeli] decision makers is to bring Hamas to the negotiation table in Cairo under terms that Israel decides, and to achieve a ceasefire deal as demanded by Jerusalem,” he said.

Ya’alon had been set to make an appearance at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where four-year-old Daniel Tragerman was killed on Friday by a mortar shell, but the visit was nixed because of the heavy rocket fire throughout the day Saturday, prompting the ire of the residents.

The kibbutz dining hall was hit by a mortar shell Saturday morning.

Nahal Oz residents interviewed by Channel 10 expressed their frustration with the minister’s cancelation, asking why the government and the military told them it was safe to return to their homes earlier this month when it was much too dangerous even for the defense minister.

Earlier Saturday, the last few families who had stayed behind in the kibbutz, just two kilometers from the Gaza border, throughout Operation Protective Edge backed up their bags and left.

Of the nearly 360 ​​members of Nahal Oz, only about 90 people, almost all of them kibbutz employees, remained in the community after Saturday afternoon, Ynet reported. In nearby Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, families with young children and the elderly have all left as well.

The army on Saturday revealed that Chief of the General Staff Benny Gantz was visiting Kibbutz Nahal Oz Friday afternoon when the mortar fire from Gaza hit the kibbutz and killed Tragerman.

— Full story here.