Kibbutz Beeri, Israel CNN —
Scorch marks and bullet holes remain in the dilapidated walls of Haran House in Kibbutz Beri. The tiled roof has caved in, the windows are broken, and the floor is littered with sharp shards of terracotta and glass. Its remains, the remnants of a day of terror for Israel, remain untouched.
“This house tells the history of Beeri,” says Yalden Tzemach, a surviving farmer from a kibbutz, one of the Israeli communities near Gaza that was overrun by Hamas militants last year.
“People were killed in this house. A family, including three children, was kidnapped from here,” he says.
Outside, under a fruit tree in the backyard, a toddler’s toy car with a Winnie the Pooh sticker sits in the rubble, a stark reminder of the lives of the people who were shattered here. are.
In some areas of Beeri, buildings were barely left intact. On October 7, more than 100 of the 1,100 residents were killed and a further 30 were abducted to Gaza.
House after house was burnt down or reduced to rubble, and a year later, many still remain as painful monuments to the ongoing trauma. More than 100 Israelis are believed to be still being held hostage, including at least 10 residents of the kibbutz, all friends and neighbors.
Progress on a cease-fire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas has repeatedly broken down due to the anger and despair of hostage families.
Near the entrance to the Beeri main administration building, two large aerial photographs are hung side by side. One is an image of the kibbutz in April 2023, showing neat white buildings set in neat rows in a lush garden. The other photo, taken shortly after the October 7 attack, shows the same houses blackened and destroyed by insurgent violence.
“That’s where they killed my sister,” Amit Sorvi said, pointing on a map to a house about five rows from the kibbutz’s perimeter fence.
Two posters are pasted on windows in different parts of the administration building. One sheet has the names and faces of the murdered kibbutz residents, and the other has a list of those taken hostage.
Mr. Solvi, chairman of Behri’s finance team, is himself an Israeli and a veteran of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and is one of about 100 residents who have returned to the country so far. Despite the personal loss, he returned home three months ago and is now leading efforts to revive Kibbutz Beeri, a formerly self-sustaining farming community.
“I told everyone that the best recovery is to go home. In my opinion, this is the best mental recovery,” Solvie says.
But he acknowledged that not everyone felt the same way, and that up to 15% of Beeri’s surviving residents may never return due to the trauma and memories of October 7. I’m guessing.
And many who want to return won’t be able to until extensive damage is repaired and their homes rebuilt, he says. Because it’s a major renovation project, Solvi said it will be at least two years before most people can return. residents can return home.
“People with families still cannot return because there is no infrastructure for children, there are no schools,” he explains.
Work to repair the physical scars has already begun, with heavy machinery breaking ground on the new district of Beiri. New housing, unaffected by the October 7 attack, is seen as an essential step to bringing back the majority of residents.
Ayelet Hakim, her husband, their 12-year-old son, and their 5-year-old daughter live in government-provided temporary housing in Hatzerim, another kibbutz, an hour’s drive away from the horrifying memories of their home, along with many other beeri. Living with survivors.
“The thought of going back and living in a house that was invaded by a violent terrorist is traumatic,” Aylett told CNN while making dinner in her new kitchen.
“I sat in my safe room for hours not knowing what was going on. There were terrorists in my house and I felt like my life and my child’s life were in danger,” she added. Ta.
Her son, Jonathan, gets in the way. “I want to go back to Beeri, I want to go back to the house I lived in. I don’t care about the trauma,” he begs.
“Home, no. Kibbutz, yes,” Ayelet declares.
“Kibbutz Beli has been my home for the past 56 years, and it’s where I want to live,” she says.
But after so much death and destruction in the Beeri region, so close to Gaza, much must be done to reassure residents of their safety.
In July, an internal Israeli Defense Force investigation into the events of October 7 concluded that the Israeli military had “failed in its mission to protect the population” and was inadequately prepared for a Hamas mass attack.
“I believe it is possible. But it will be a big challenge and it will take a long time before people feel as safe as they did before October 7,” he said. Tzemacher says.
“You know, once something happens, it’s always in the back of your mind that it can happen again.”
