As those who fled Israel’s border villages weigh whether to return, what hangs in the balance?

By ADAM GELLER
Associated Press

KIBBUTZ NAHAL OZ, Israel (AP) — Months after Hamas attackers killed 1,200 people, a string of Israeli farming communities they targeted just across the border fence with Gaza remain all but empty. The people who lived there are now in hotels, dorm rooms and other locales in the country’s interior as the war rages on. Now residents of the communities – known as kibbutzim — are starting to wrestle with vexing questions about whether, when and how to go back.