Nahal Oz Observers Memorial Monument

The Shaar HaNegev school bus attack was a missile attack on 7 April 2011, in which Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired a Kornet laser-guided anti-tank missile over the border at an Israeli school bus, killing a schoolboy.Hamas claimed the bus was traveling on a road used by Israeli military vehicles and it did not know that schoolchildren were on board. Israel said the yellow color of the bus made it easily identifiable and accused Hamas of "crossing a line."The missile hit the bus after all but one of the children had been dropped off. The only remaining passenger, a 16-year-old boy, Daniel Viflic, was critically injured with shrapnel wounds to the head and died from his injuries on 17 April. The driver was lightly injured. Another mortar barrage was timed to coincide with the arrival of the paramedics, which delayed the evacuation.The attack was condemned by the international community.

Sa'ad (Hebrew: סַעַד, lit. Aid) is a religious kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Located near the Gaza Strip, and the cities of Sderot and Netivot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 846.Due to its proximity to Gaza, the kibbutz has been the target of numerous rocket attacks.

On 7 October 2023, dozens of Hamas militants attacked Alumim, a kibbutz close to the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of a surprise attack on Israel. There were 41 Thai and Nepalese foreigners working at the kibbutz. The militants killed between 16 and 17 of these workers and kidnapped between five and eight of them. The kibbutz's security team were too far away and unable save the employees. The militants did severe structural damage to the Kibbutz’s dairy farming operation. After heavy fighting, the security team were able to push the militants back with the help of the Israeli Defense Forces. No deaths among the remaining civilian population of the kibbutz were reported. At least two Israeli soldiers were killed by militants, while a significant number of Hamas militants were killed.

Alumim (Hebrew: עֲלוּמִים, lit. 'Youth') is a kibbutz located in the northwestern Negev desert in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip. It falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 531.

The Battle of Be'erot Yitzhak was a military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces and Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was fought on July 15, 1948, in the ten-day period between the first and second truces of the war. The Egyptian army, after unsuccessful attacks on Negba on July 12 and Gal On on July 14, assaulted the lightly defended outlying Negev village Be'erot Yitzhak. They managed to penetrate the village perimeter, but the Israelis concentrated in an inner position in the village, and fought off the Egyptian advance until reinforcements arrived and drove out the attackers.

On 7 October 2023, around 70 Hamas militants attacked Kfar Aza, a kibbutz about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from the border with the Gaza Strip, massacring residents and abducting several hostages. The kibbutz had more than 700 residents prior to the attack, and it took two days for the Israel Defense Forces to regain full control of the area. While the exact total of Israelis killed is yet unknown, as of 15 October 52 were listed as dead, and a further 20 or more were missing.The attack is notable for claims of brutality in the form of beheadings, dismemberment, and victims having been burned alive. Claims by Israeli media and government sources advancing that 40 babies had been decapitated went viral. While a massacre of civilians did occur, a few of the most lurid claims, including the baby decapitations, were later found to be false. Evidence provided by Bituah Leumi, Israel's national social security agency, showed that of the 46 civilians that were killed in Kfar Aza, the youngest was 14 years old.

Kfar Aza (Hebrew: כְּפַר עַזָּה, lit. 'Gaza Village') is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot around five kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Gaza, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 765.

Shuva (Hebrew: שׁוּבָה) is a religious moshav in southern Israel. Located near Netivot and covering 4,500 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 722.

Liri Albag (Hebrew: לירי אלבג) is an Israeli woman serving in Israel Defense Forces who was kidnapped in Nahal Oz during October 7 attacks by Hamas

Naama Levy (Hebrew: נעמה לוי; born 22 June 2004) is an Israeli woman who was serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) when she was abducted from the IDF surveillance base at Nahal Oz near the Gaza–Israel barrier on the morning of 7 October 2023, during the Hamas-led attack on Israel. Later that day, Hamas released footage on social media showing Levy in the Gaza Strip, hands tied behind her back, as armed militants dragged her from the trunk of a Jeep and forced her inside the vehicle. One of the first viral videos of the Gaza war, the footage showed Levy with multiple visible injuries and a large bloodstain on the seat of her gray sweatpants, which gave rise to widespread speculation that she had been sexually abused. Images from the footage came to symbolize sexual and gender based violence against Israeli women during the attacks. On 22 May 2024, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released footage compiled from Hamas militants' bodycams, showing Levy and other female soldiers being held captive at the surveillance base on the morning of 7 October. The families approved the release of the footage partly to pressure the Israeli government to resume hostage negotiations with Hamas. On 25 January 2025, Levy and three other female soldiers, who had served and been abducted with her, were released as part of the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, after spending 477 days in captivity.

Nahal Oz (Hebrew: נחל עוז, lit. "Mighty Stream") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2021, it had a population of 471. A nearby IDF military base is known by the same name.

The Nahal Oz attack was an assault on the kibbutz of Nahal Oz and the adjacent military base near the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October 2023 as part of a 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. In the attack, more than 60 Israeli soldiers and more than a dozen kibbutz residents were killed. Some soldiers and residents were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.