KIBBUTZ NIR OZ, Israel (AP) — The empty bedrooms of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 remain frozen in time.
Nine months after their captivity in Gaza, traces of the violence and fighting of that day can still be seen in the bedrooms of some hostages: bloodstained floors, bullet-riddled walls, scorched and overturned furniture.
Others exude calm and routine: their beds are unmade and their belongings – trophies, cuddly toys, framed photographs – are left untouched at the request of shocked families, as evidence of their absence.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel on October 7 and kidnapped about 250, many of them taken from their bedrooms. Since then, the Israeli military has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians fighting Hamas in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count.
About 120 hostages remain in Gaza, although Israel believes at least 40 are dead. During a ceasefire in November, 105 hostages were released. A few hostages have been rescued alive, and the Israeli army has recovered the bodies of others during military operations.
For many of the abductees 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 October 7, of joy, of the gift of togetherness, of giving, of love. Now it is not only a war zone, but a place of carnage,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, leaning against the doorframe of his son Sagui’s ravaged bedroom.
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 safety. 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.
On the outskirts of Tel Aviv, plastic tarps cover 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 3-year-old son, Almog, now lives with his grandparents.
The family of Naama Levy, 20, a soldier who was kidnapped from an army base near Gaza, has kept almost everything in her bedroom intact. But they have also filled it with photo collages and gifts 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 particularly down. “It helps me to feel her, to be in her room and have her pictures around me, I’m not sad because I always think she’ll come home soon.”
In the bedroom of Omer Shem-Tov, 21, who was abducted along with about 40 others from a music festival, the light never goes out. His mother, Shelly Shem-Tov, put a piece of tape over the light switch on Oct. 8, instructing no one to touch or clean the room until he came home and did it himself.
Omer’s room is littered with souvenirs, including a Torah scroll, blessed by rabbis.
“I draw strength from that room,” said Shem-Tov, who is actively pushing the Israeli government to bring her son – and all the hostages – home.
“This bedroom has energy,” said Shem-Tov, who prays there every morning and evening and has long conversations with her other children as they lie stretched out on Omer’s bed. “I feel like he can sense me when I’m there.”