Nachal Oz needs two things to become a beautiful, loving, thriving community again. First, Omri Miran must come home. Second, the Hamas terror state—just 700 meters away—can no longer be their neighbor. I visited Nachal Oz today, where fifteen people were murdered on October 7 and eight were taken hostage. Five returned alive. One, Tzachi Idan, was murdered in captivity, his body ransomed back. Hamas is still holding the body ofTanzanian student Joshua Mollel, who was murdered during the attack. And one hostage remains trapped in the dungeons of Gaza: Omri Miran. Omri, a shiatsu therapist, husband to Lishay, father to little Roni and Alma, was abducted from his home after Hamas death squads forced a teenage neighbor, Tomer Eliaz-Arava, to knock on their rocket shelter door at gunpoint and beg the family to surrender. Tomer’s mother and stepfather were murdered in their home. His eight- and fifteen-year-old stepsisters were abducted into Gaza. I sat with Lishay, who is now raising two little girls who just want to know when their daddy is coming home. Until Omri returns, the healing of Nachal Oz cannot begin. But healing requires more than that. The paths of Nachal Oz are dotted with rocket shelters every few feet—a reminder that the terror didn’t begin on October 7. This community endured twenty years of rocket fire, with just seven seconds to run for cover. Gaza is so close, the ground still shakes with every explosion. No family in Nachal Oz will ever feel safe while Hamas remains in power—while the jihadi regime that orchestrated the October 7 Massacre still rules just across the fence, threatening to invade and butcher them in their homes "again and again."  Gaza must return the hostages. Gaza must make peace. Nachal Oz will rebuild—it always does. But it will not disappear. The sooner the people of Gaza understand that Nachal Oz, and Israel, are here to stay, the sooner we can all move forward.
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