Bullet holes cover the bedroom wall of hostage Ariel Bibas, 4, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. Ariel was kidnapped on Oct. 7, with his infant brother, Kfir, his mother, Shiri, and his father, Yarden. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
KIBBUTZ NIR OZ, Israel (AP) — The empty bedrooms of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 remain frozen in time.
Nine months into their captivity in Gaza, some hostages’ bedrooms still show signs of that day’s violence and struggle: blood-stained floors, bullet-riddled walls, scorched and toppled furniture.
Others’ exude tranquility and routine: their beds are left unmade and their belongings — trophies, stuffed animals, framed photos — remain untouched at the behest of shell-shocked families as a testimony to their absence.
Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, and kidnapped around 250 — many taken from their bedrooms. Since then, the Israeli army has killed over 38,000 Palestinians while fighting Hamas in Gaza, according to local health officials who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count.
Around 120 hostages remain in Gaza, though Israel believes at least 40 of them are dead. During a November cease-fire, 105 hostages were released. A few hostages have been rescued alive, and the Israeli military has recovered the bodies of others during military operations.
For many of those kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, their bedrooms or entire homes were destroyed. All that remains of the charred bedroom of David Cunio and Sharon Alony Cunio are the curled springs of their mattress, lying in a pile of soot.
“This was a place of joy until Oct. 7, of joy, of the gift of togetherness, of giving, of love. Now, it’s not just a war zone, but a place of massacre,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, as he leaned against the door frame of the destroyed bedroom of his son, Sagui.
Dekel-Chen wonders how his family — now living with other members of Kibbutz Nir Oz in temporary housing an hour away — will ever regain their sense of security. Sagui’s wife, Avital, was seven months pregnant on Oct. 7 and survived the attack with her two daughters by hiding for hours in the family’s safe room. She gave birth to a third daughter during Sagui’s captivity.
In a suburb of Tel Aviv, plastic sheeting covers the furniture in the empty home of Or and Einav Levy. Or was kidnapped and Einav was killed when militants attacked the Nova music festival in southern Israel. Their three-year-old son, Almog, now lives with his grandparents.
The family of Naama Levy, 20, a soldier kidnapped from an army base near Gaza, has kept most everything intact in her bedroom. But they’ve also filled her bedroom with photo collages and presents that people have made for Naama when she returns.
Amit Levy, Naama’s 21-year-old brother, said he sometimes sleeps in his sister’s room when he’s feeling especially low. “It helps me feel her, to be in her room and her pictures around me, I’m not sad because I’m always thinking that she’ll come home soon.”
In the bedroom of Omer Shem-Tov, 21, who was kidnapped with some 40 others from a music festival, the light never goes off. His mother, Shelly Shem-Tov, put a piece of tape over the light switch on Oct. 8 with instructions that nobody should touch or clean up the room until he comes home and does it himself.
Omer’s room is strewn with mementos, including a Torah scroll, that have been blessed by rabbis.
“I get strength from that room,” said Shem-Tov, who is active in pressuring the Israeli government to bring her son — and all of the hostages — home.
“This bedroom has energy,” said Shem-Tov, who prays in it every morning and evening and has long talks with her other children as they lay sprawled on Omer’s bed. “I feel that he can feel me when I’m in there.”
Bullet holes cover the bedroom wall of hostage Ariel Bibas, 4, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. Ariel was kidnapped on Oct. 7, with his infant brother, Kfir, now 1, his mother, Shiri, and his father, Yarden. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Bullet holes are seen on the bedroom wall of hostage Itzhak Elgarat, 69, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. Hamas militants shot and injured Elgarat before taking him captive on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Damaged walls from a hand grenade are seen in the bedroom of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Dekel-Chen was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Blood stains the floor of the bedroom where Ariel Cunio, 27 and his girlfriend, Arbel Yehud, 29, were kidnapped on Oct. 7, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The bedroom of hostage Nimrod Cohen, 19, in Rehovot, Israel, on Sunday, June 23, 2024. Cohen, an Israeli soldier, was taken captive on Oct. 7, from a tank in southern Israel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Bullet holes and smoke damage in the bedroom of Ziv Berman, 26, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Israel, on Monday, June 24, 2024. Berman and his twin brother Gali were both kidnapped on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Fire damage stains the bedroom walls of Ofer Kalderon, 53, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. Ofer, along with two of his children, Erez and Sahar, sought refuge in the fields of the kibbutz, but were eventually taken hostage on Oct. 7. Both children were released from captivity on Nov. 27. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Plastic covers the bed in the home of hostage Or Levy, 33, and his wife Einav, 32, in Givatayim, Israel, on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Or Levy was kidnapped from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. Einav Levy was killed during the Oct. 7 attack. Their son, 3-year-old Almog, is staying with his grandparents. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A bullet hole is seen on the bedroom wall of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, 30, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Israel, on Monday, June 24, 2024. Steinbrecher was kidnapped on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The scorched bedroom of Oded Lifshitz, 84, and his wife Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, on Friday, June 21, 2024. The couple was kidnapped on Oct. 7. Yocheved Lifshitz was released on Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The bedroom of hostage Omer Neutra, 22, at his relative's home in the city of Raanana, Israel, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Neutra, an American-Israeli tank commander was taken captive on Oct. 7, from a tank near Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The remains of a mattress are seen in the scorched bedroom of hostage David Cunio, 34, and his wife Sharon Alony Cunio, 33, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Friday, June 21, 2024. The couple was abducted with their 3-year-old twin daughters, Yuli and Emma, and Sharon's sister, Danielle Alony, 44, and daughter Emilia, 5. Sharon and the twins and Danielle and her daughter were released from captivity in November. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The bedroom of hostage Naama Levy, 20, in Raanana, Israel, on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Levy was kidnapped on Oct. 7 from an army base along with six other female soldiers. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Fire damage stains the bedroom walls of hostage Ziv Berman, 26, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Israel, on Monday, June 24, 2024. Berman and his twin brother Gali were both kidnapped on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The bedroom of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, 21, in Herzliya, Israel, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. Shem-Tov was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Damage from a hand grenade seen in the bedroom of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Dekel-Chen was kidnapped on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A shelf in the bedroom of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, in Jerusalem, on Friday, July 5, 2024. Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The damaged bedroom of hostage Ohad Yahalomi, 50, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. Yahalomi was home on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants shot and kidnapped him along with his 12-year-old son, Eitan. His son was released from captivity on Nov. 27. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The bedroom of hostage Aryeh Zalmanovich, 85, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on Friday, June 21, 2024. Zalmanovich was injured during his abduction by Hamas on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
The bedroom of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, in Jerusalem, on Friday, July 5, 2024. Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
