Kibbutzim across the country held memorial ceremonies for the fallen victims on Thursday to display solidarity with the kibbutzim near Gaza in their mourning for the thousands killed and kidnapped on October 8.
Kibbutz Na'an, which lost two members with another missing, lowered the Israeli flag in the center of the kibbutz to half mast. The kibbutz is located near Rehovot, in Israel’s center region.
"The kibbutz movement shares the sorrow and pain over those missing—the civilians, the soldiers and members of the security forces, the sons and daughters, parents, the abducted ,and the missing," said Re'ah Ben Abraham, head of the Na'an community.
The members of Kibbutz Na'an who fell last Saturday are Tom Gudo, who was killed by terrorists while hiding with his family in a shelter, and Yiftah Gorni, who joined a battalion in the southern Gaza envelope and fell in battle. Their brothers, Asaf Gudo and Ido Gorni, lowered the flag.
"You walk around and see the immense pain. People are shocked," said Dafna Zahavi, a member of the kibbutz. Zahavi sang the song “Kol Echad” (Each One) by Avraham Ben Zahavi and David Zahavi, founders of Kibbutz Na'an, and her husband, Avi.
"We have been very concerned about these things for a very long time,” she continued. “We were in great anxiety in the leadup to the Yom Kippur War, and they turned a blind eye to the signs. Once again the signs were everywhere, and they ignored them."
Since Saturday, the kibbutz has been collecting supplies, cooking for and supporting hundreds of soldiers in the vicinity. Several friends and family members evacuated from the Gaza envelope have been staying in the kibbutz since Saturday.
"They asked my son to help rebuild the cowshed in Kibbutz Kissufim," Zahavi said. "Everyone is trying to do what they can in their own way.”
“I am a grandmother to a 14-year-old grandson who lost two of his friends who lived in one of the kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope,” she added. “It's a very big tragedy. We will recover from it because we are strong. But right now, we are in a state of shock."
"The urge right now is to get out and do something," Ben Abraham said. "You can't sit quietly. You can't remain indifferent. Everyone wants to do something – even the children. They want to help and contribute because something significant is happening here.”
“But the shock hasn't fully sunk in yet. We haven't even had a moment to process what happened,” she said. “We haven't even had time to cry. It's just more and more circles of people [to help].”
