Demolitions begin in Be’eri neighborhood ravaged on Oct. 7: ‘The memories remain in my soul’

Demolitions start in the Olive neighborhood of Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border, one of two neighborhoods worst affected by the Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023.

Terrorists who stormed the kibbutz murdered 102 of the roughly 1,200 residents of the kibbutz and abducted another 30, all of whom were since returned to Israel either dead or alive.

The first house to be bulldozed is the Gat family’s home. Kinneret Gat was murdered next to the house, while her daughter Carmel Gat was abducted to Gaza and later murdered, after 11 months in captivity.

Residents long debated what to do with the houses. Ultimately, kibbutz members felt that demolishing and rebuilding the two neighborhoods, rather than living in a perpetual monument to the devastating attack, was crucial in allowing them to move on.

Eshel Gat, husband of the late Kinneret and father of Carmel, says: “Today I witnessed the demolition of my home, the evacuation of an entire life that was cut short by violence. The memories remain in my soul, I hold on to them every day, but the house is not a symbol or a memorial site. ”

A statement from the Gat family says, “We will remember and commemorate Carmel and Kinneret in ways that symbolize life and not hell.”

The family announces a race on May 15 aimed at commemorating the two women’s lives of “action and love of the country.”

The event will include three relay races, to be run or walked, from Kibbutz Yagur in the Carmel, near Haifa, to Tzemach at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee.

Further information can be found here: https://www.carmel-kinneret.org/