‘The wheat will grow again’: Kibbutz Be’eri marks two years since Hamas onslaught

A memorial service is held at Kibbutz Be’eri, where Hamas terrorists murdered 102 during their October 7, 2023 rampage — around one in ten residents — and kidnapped 30 to the Gaza Strip.

Many of the speakers are relatives of those who fell on October 7. Ben Suchman, CEO of the kibbutz’s storied printing house, who lost his mother Tami, reads a poem he has penned. Ran Weiss and Michal Finian Weiss sing “The wheat will grow again” in memory of Mati and Amir Weiss.

Elad Keidar, who lost his parents Sami and Ofra Keidar, also gives a reading. Sami was murdered in the kibbutz. Ofra’s body was abducted to Gaza and was retreived in June by IDF troops, along with the remains of another Be’eri member, Ilan Weiss.

Ofer Gitai, community manager, says, “Even today, the heart refuses to believe that there are still hostages in the Gaza Strip. This word ‘hostages’ — the mind cannot comprehend how many times it has been repeated over the last two years…. We have become missing people – missing you, missing parts of ourselves, missing the joy that was so easy just the night before, missing the people who will no longer be.”

Two years after the large-scale destruction of Kibbutz Be’eri, some 750 residents are still living in temporary accommodation in Kibbutz Hatzerim. About 100 have returned to Be’eri, and some 250 remain scattered throughout the country.

Be’eri is undergoing intensive repair and rebuilding, although the burned-out hulks of homes from October 7 still remain.

The plan is for the community to return next July.

Four bodies are still held by Hamas — those of Yossi Sharabi, Manny Godard, Sahar Baruch, and Dror Or.

An additional 24 members of the security forces fell trying to liberate Kibbutz Be’eri on that day.