Two years after Hamas attack, Israel has said the Holit community can go back – but memories are still raw
S
hir Matias wants to move back to the Holit kibbutz but doesn’t know if she will be able to bear it. Now 23, she grew up in this tiny community in Israel’s farthest south-west tip, and its flower-lined paths hold some of her happiest memories.
It is also the place where her parents were murdered by Hamas gunmen on 7 October 2023, and her brother Rotem was badly injured. Their mother, Shachar, used her own body to shield him from the bullets, saving his life in a last act of love.
“I do miss Holit. It’s a big question that I ask myself every day, whether I can go back to live there. It seems like I don’t have an answer, and I don’t think I will be able to get one until I try,” she said.
