Livestock Impacted by Israel-Hamas War in Kibbutz Nir Itzhak | VOA News

VOA's Natasha Mozgovaya reports from Kibbutz Nir Itzhak where livestock has been impacted by the Israel-Hamas war.

As the war between Hamas and Israel goes on for a month, the evacuated communities in south and north Israel count their losses – not only in lives but also in livelihood, with businesses shut and harvest getting lost in the fields that cannot be worked under fire. Normally, this time of year would be a peak of the season for harvest – but with 32 communities evacuated from the south and 28 in the north, agriculture in Israel is one of the hardest hit.

In Kibbutz Nir Itzhak, one of the communities near the Gaza border that was attacked by Hamas, when residents were evacuated, for days there was no one but the soldiers – and the cows left without care. Gradually, volunteers started coming in from all over the country – some had never milked a cow before. Keeping shifts on rotation, they restored the electricity (the electricity booth got burned during fighting) and started feeding and milking the cows. Today, “Brothers in Barns” are proud to report that when the kibbutz residents are allowed to return, days, weeks or months from now – they will probably be relieved to see that their livelihood survived.

Israel says Hamas is holding more than 240 hostages taken during its October 7 attack that killed 1,400 people.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the death toll from Israeli attacks has surpassed 10,000.