Israel’s Largest Cannabis Company Reports 2 Employees Kidnapped by Hamas; Family Members Killed

It’s been almost two weeks since air raid sirens first blared in Jerusalem, warning Israeli citizens of a surprise attack in progress by Hamas militants that included thousands of rockets fired toward the southern and central part of the country.

Hamas, founded in 1987 by a Palestinian refugee living in Gaza, is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, according to The Associated Press. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 1997.

While Hamas took credit for roughly 5,000 rockets fired at Israel on Oct. 7, according to several news sources, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated 2,200 rockets were fired in what’s now being referred to as the Israel-Hamas conflict by many in the mainstream media.

Shortly after the attacks began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his country “we are at war” in a video statement that Saturday in front of the county’s military headquarters. Following the attack, Israel’s security cabinet declared war against Hamas.

In the following days, multiple videos surfaced of Hamas militants kidnapping Israeli citizens—including children and elderly—taking them across the Gaza border to hold hostage.

As of Oct. 19 (the 13th day of the conflict), IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Israeli military had notified the families of 203 hostages that had been taken by Hamas, according to The Times of Israel and other news outlets.

At least two of these hostages are reportedly employees at InterCure, a Herzliya, Israel-headquartered medical cannabis operator and the largest publicly traded cannabis company outside North America.

InterCure reported Oct. 17 that two of its workers at the company’s southern Israel site in Nir Oz were kidnapped. Also, InterCure CEO Alexander Rabinovich indicated that many of his employees have family members who were killed.

“Despite the despicable barbaric terrorist attack against the residents of Israeli towns and villages, we stand strong,” he said in a public statement. “We support the families of those murdered and injured, among them, several of company’s employees from Kibbutz Nir Oz.”

Kibbutz is an international community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. This community and other small towns like Nir Oz that are located just outside the Gaza Strip were the sites where armed Hamas militants shot at and slaughtered Jewish people during the initial attacks, several news outlets reported.

As of Oct. 19, there have been 1,400-plus deaths and 4,500-plus injuries in Israel, according to IDF, as well as roughly 3,800 deaths and 12,000-plus injuries in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. In addition, 32 Americans have been killed in Israel, according to the U.S. State Department.

Nir Oz, roughly 1 mile from the Gaza border, is where InterCure chose to establish its main cannabis cultivation and production facility, the largest and most advanced in the region. It’s also where InterCure cultivates and manufactures Cookies GMP products as part of a strategic partnership with the U.S.-based company that was founded by Berner.

While InterCure’s management, cannabis trading houses and pharmacies continue to work to provide services to cannabis patients, the company’s facility in Nir Oz has been designated by Israeli authorities as a closed military area since the beginning of the conflict, according to InterCure.

“At this point, the company is unable to assess the extent of the damage to the southern Israel site, and the scope of the rehabilitation that will be required,” according InterCure’s Oct. 17 security update. “All of the company’s remaining facilities, in Israel and abroad, are functioning normally, and have been asked to ramp up production. The company estimates in high certainty that it will be entitled for compensation from the Israeli government for the damages suffered.”

InterCure has received “substantial offers” to supply its inventories and to grow its genetics from various local and international strategic partners, according to the company.

As the conflict continues, InterCure has vowed to supply the communities in southern Israel, as well as the survivors from the terrorist attack, with its line of products, free of charge, to “ease their pain and provide relief for various medical conditions, including pain relief and trauma treatment.” The company is working with Israel’s Ministry of Health to promote special trauma treatment programs.

“The company’s leadership position in the medical cannabis market and the fact that we operate from and through the wonderful community of Kibbutz Nir Oz for years makes it our obligation to act quickly to restore the southern Israel site in Kibbutz Nir Oz for the benefit of all our patients,” according to the update. “[InterCure] is committed to support the communities and provide its products to patients living in the affected areas and all the survivors of the terrorist attack. Bringing relief is our mission statement. Together, we will win.”