New memorial wall unveiled to honour 466 kibbutz victims of Hamas attacks and ongoing war
Israel’s kibbutzim marked their dead on Memorial Day with a major expansion at the Mishmar HaEmek tribute site
A newly unveiled stone wall engraved with the names of 466 kibbutz members killed since 7 October has been added to Israel’s central kibbutz memorial in Mishmar HaEmek, in a solemn act of remembrance timed to coincide with the country’s national day of mourning.
The expansion, the first of its scale in years, honours 391 civilians murdered in Hamas’s brutal invasion of southern Israel and 75 others who died in military operations or terrorist attacks in the months that followed.
It brings the total number of kibbutz victims commemorated at the site to 3,533.
Located in the western Jezreel Valley, the Memorial to Fallen Kibbutz Members has served as the central place of tribute for kibbutz casualties since Israel’s founding. The fifth wall, carved from stone and funded by the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund, was installed just ahead of Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, which was observed this Wednesday.
“As many communities continue to grieve their losses and kibbutzim work to rebuild their homes, it is crucial to pause and honour their memory,” said Neri Shotan, CEO of the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund. “The work of rehabilitation continues amidst great uncertainty, and we stand with them in remembrance and solidarity.”
A formal dedication ceremony is set to take place next month during the Kibbutz Movement’s own memorial event.
In a parallel, a symbolic milestone monument was unveiled to commemorate the anniversary of the “11 Points” settlement enterprise, kibbutzim established in 1946 in defiance of British restrictions, whose 77th anniversary was being marked on the eve of the Hamas attacks.
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