“We are officially hostages:” How the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz embodied Hamas’ strategy

By Lori Hinnant, Sam McNeil and Maya Alleruzzo

Lori Hinnant, Sam McNeil and Maya Alleruzo put together by far the most
comprehensive account of Hamas’ attack on the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz and
linked it to Hamas’ exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. They assembled the riveting account of
what happened during the attack of Oct. 7 through a review of hundreds of
messages among Nir Oz residents shared exclusively with The Associated Press,
direct interviews with 17 of the residents (and accounts from
many more), security camera footage, and Hamas’ own instruction manuals. They
linked the story to the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas — many of them
from Nir Oz — in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The story showed close-up
how Hamas has changed its hostage strategy to include civilians, and how it has
played out. The story led the APNews site on the day it broke.