October 7 · Personal story
Margalit Berta Moses
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Nir Oz
Current outcome
Released alive · November 24, 2023
Released alive on 24 November 2023 after 49 days in captivity.
01
Life before
Margalit Berta Moses made her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz for decades. She taught for 25 years, then became treasurer at Nirlat, the kibbutz paint factory. Beyond work, she loved hiking, birdwatching and travel. A Times of Israel profile describes her knitting for her three children and ten grandchildren, then taking them hiking in nature. It also notes a recent sailing trip in Norway. The same reporting identifies her as a cancer survivor in 2023. Her days joined a long working life with family outings, outdoor walks and handwork. Nir Oz remained her home, and the kibbutz community remembered her by name in its memorial page.
02
Abduction
On October 7, 2023, Margalit was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the attack on the community. Her former husband, Gadi Moshe, was also taken from Nir Oz that day. The community roster and contemporaneous reporting list them as separate people, each with an individual hostage record. After her abduction, a video circulated showing Margalit being taken; family and friends waited for confirmation of where she had been held. Her name appeared in public release reporting as Margalit Berta Mozes, while Nir Oz and KAN use Margalit Moses.
03
Captivity
In a video message shared at a Tel Aviv hostage-support rally on December 9, 2023, Margalit described one night in captivity: she had taken her oxygen device to Gaza because she needed it to sleep. A captor took it despite her explaining in Arabic that it was hers and she needed it. She said she did not sleep during the 49 days she was held. A familiar bedtime need had followed her into the tunnels, where even sleep depended on a device she no longer had. She also described physical and emotional difficulties that became harder with every day. These were her own words after release, describing the conditions she had lived through.
04
Return
Margalit was released alive on November 24, 2023, after 49 days. Her release was reported under the name Margalit Berta Mozes, while the Nir Oz community uses Margalit Moses. After decades of teaching, working at Nirlat and raising a family, she returned to Israel from captivity. Her former husband Gadi remained in Gaza after her release; their returns took place at different times.
05
Aftermath
On December 9, two weeks after returning, Margalit used a video message to speak at a rally for families of people still held captive. She called the tunnels an unbearable place and urged that the remaining hostages be returned quickly. The message shows her public concern turning toward those still waiting while her own return was recent. She had spent years knitting for her family and walking outdoors with grandchildren; that life was the ground to which she came back after 49 days away.