Exactly two years ago, on the morning of October 7, 2023, hell broke loose in Israel. Around 4,000 rockets were fired at the country. Over 5,000 Hamas terrorists invaded, most by land, but some also by air and sea. They overran kibbutzim and moshavim, reached Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim—and a music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, held in the open countryside. Thousands of young people had danced through the night. When the first rockets hit, many fled in panic—with their cars, over dirt roads, through the chaos. Some made it. Others did not.
Highway 232, the line of death. Along the route bordering the Gaza Strip, destroyed vehicles were left behind—riddled with bullets, burned out, shattered. It took the army two weeks to reopen the road. The wrecks were brought to a site near Moshav Tekuma. In the end, there were 860 vehicles—each one a silent testament to panic, courage, hope, or despair.
The car wall
Volunteers from ZAKA, archaeologists, and members of the missing persons unit “Etan” went through each vehicle—searching for personal belongings, identities, even...
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