Instead Of Holding Kite Festival For Peace, Kutz Family Were Slaughtered In Cold Blood

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Like many families in their Kfar Aza community, the Kutz family naively believed that even their Gazan neighbors could be partners for peace. 80% of the community, like so many of the the neighboring communities, voted for left-leaning parties, supported the disengagement, were convinced that Israel’s withdrawal to the international border could eventually lead to a lasting peace.

On that fateful Simchat Torah, the Kutz family planned to launch their annual kite festival for peace, in which they sent kites with messages of peace towards the nearby Gaza border.

Instead, Aviv (54), Livnat (49), Rotem (19), Yonatan (17), and Yiftach (15) Kutz, an entire family, were murdered by Hamas terrorists at their home in Kfar Aza on October, 7, 2023. Their peaceful overtures were met by brutal, senseless savagery.

Kutz family. Murdered in cold blood in their Kfar Aza home

After initially being counted among the missing, neighbors from the kibbutz found them together in a bed, with father Aviv providing a protective embrace.

Livnat, who was supposed to celebrate her 50th birthday this month, was born during the Yom Kippur War. She was a graphic designer who launched an educational initiative called Workshop that integrated ancient handcrafts into school curriculums in the Shaar Hanegev region in Israel’s south.

Aviv was deputy director of a consulting firm and also engaged in agricultural work.

Daughter Rotem was a soldier who trained new recruits. Sons Yonatan and Yiftach were students at the Kfar Hayarok boarding school in Ramat Hasharon and basketball players in the Hapoel youth program. They dreamed of going professional.

“They were all amazing kids with huge hearts. They had their whole lives ahead of them,” their aunt Adi Levy Salama told a Hebrew media outlet.

Salama shared that the family had returned to Kfar Aza after several years spent in Boston.

The family were laid to rest on Tuesday side by side in a cemetery in Gan Yavne, as thousands of mourners came to accompany the family on their final journey.

Yehuda Levi, Livnat’s father, recited the mourners’ Kaddish. Ziv, Livnat’s brother, lamented, “How can we bury five pure souls? Yiftach, what a strong child you were with such a gentle and beautiful soul. Yonatan, I always told you it’s never too late to switch teams; now it’s truly too late. Rotem, so beautiful and talented, always bringing light and laughter into the room. We were so proud of you when you completed your IDF Intelligence Corps course. Aviv, you were like a brother, a role model, a true father. You were there even on this accursed Saturday, trying to shield and protect your loved ones.”

Adi, Livnat’s sister, expressed, “I’m trying to gather word after word, stringing sentences together, trying to picture you, to reminisce about shared moments, both happy and sad. To hear your contagious laughter. But the thread between my mind and my heart is severed, and I can’t process it.”

Sharon, Aviv’s sister, shared her thoughts: “My dearest Aviv, the love of my heart. I had the best brother one could ask for. You taught me all the secrets of photography, and you were the one everyone loved and wanted to be around. I knew I could always rely on you for everything. You took care of me and watched over me. You were such a loving and dedicated father. It was no surprise when they found you hugging them and trying to protect them because you loved them so much. Our beloved Livnat, thank you for teaching me how to persevere and be bold, and how to break boundaries. Thank you for your generous heart.”