Kibbutz Be’eri has selected the house that will remain standing as a testament to the horrors of October 7, 2023, a month after residents voted to demolish all but one of the homes destroyed during the Hamas onslaught on the Gaza-adjacent community.

The burned-out house belongs to Yogev and Yael Dvori, who were in Cyprus with their four children at the time of the attack. The fact that the family survived was one factor in the decision to choose their home, as was its location in the Kerem (vineyard) neighborhood on the edge of the kibbutz: residents will not need to see it every day.

Be’eri was one of the hardest-hit communities during the attack. Of the over 1,200 people killed when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, 102 were residents of Be’eri — around a 10th of the community. Thirty more people were kidnapped to Gaza from the kibbutz (all of whom have since been returned, either alive and dead).

Residents had recently debated what to do with the two worst-hit neighborhoods, and the decision to tear the homes down was controversial — with one government minister indicating he

© The Times of Israel