[1] The Palestinian militant group Hamas invaded the kibbutz early on 7 October 2023, resulting in a massacre in which about one-quarter of Nir Oz's residents were killed or taken hostage.

In 2008 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) asked the kibbutz to harvest its potatoes at night to lower the risk of attack.

[4] On 5 June 2008 a mortar bomb fired from the Gaza Strip hit the Nirlat paint factory on the kibbutz, killing an employee and wounding four others.

[6] In the 7 October 2023 sudden attack on the Gaza envelope communities, Hamas' Al Qassam and other militant groups either killed, injured, or abducted about one quarter of the 400 residents of Nir Oz.

The authority responsible for the rehabilitation of Israeli communities affected by the Hamas attack has estimated that it will take two years to fully rebuild Nir Oz.

[6] In 1960 Nir Oz introduced a long-term water saving gardening project on 27 acres (110,000 m2) of kibbutz land.

The project is conducted in cooperation with Ben Gurion University of the Negev and serves as a study and observation site for researchers, gardeners, teachers and students from all over the country.