Known as Israel’s “Car Wall,” the wrecks were seized by militants during the assault that left more than 1,200 people dead. The site has since become a sanctuary and symbol of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the unprecedented attack.
At dawn that day, nearly 4,000 Hamas-led attackers crossed the barriers from Gaza and rampaged through southern Israel. Among their targets was the Nova music festival, where hundreds of young people were killed as militants descended on the crowd using paramotors. Questions over how the attackers managed to breach Israeli defences and operate for hours before the army intervened continue to haunt survivors and families of the victims.
In Kibbutz Be’eri, just two kilometres from the Gaza border, 370 armed men stormed the community, killing 102 residents, including babies and the elderly. Monette, who hid in a safe room for 36 hours, recalled the horror and confusion of that day. Two years later, she still struggles to understand why help took so long to arrive, as the scars of 7 October remain deeply embedded in Israel’s collective memory.
