Planting Roots Near Gaza: Families Relocate to Kerem Shalom

The burned and shattered vehicle is still there. So are the fence, the paths, and the mobile bomb shelters scattered every few meters, continuing to remind visitors what happened here on the morning of October 7. In Kerem Shalom, memory is not a distant tale from the past, but part of the landscape.

Yet precisely in this place, which was saved from a horrific massacre thanks to the heroism of the local emergency squad and several fighters, new life is beginning to sprout. Children run together between the homes, families unpack boxes, and on the edge of the kibbutz, alongside the temporary structures, heavy machinery is already working on the next neighborhood.

Renewal on the Border

Three years after the massacre, nine families chose to do what seems contrary to everyone's instincts—right after the harrowing images of children and elderly people abducted from their beds in the Gaza envelope, they decided to plant their roots in Kerem Shalom, the kibbutz closest to Gaza.

For Shira Engler, a bridal makeup artist, the idea of moving to the kibbutz was born almost instantly. "We were at the Gvura Forum tent, talking about Amihai Wizman, who was killed here in the emergency squad. They told us about Amihai and Kerem Shalom, a kibbutz in the envelope, a mixed community of religious and secular residents. Ever since, we were hooked. I told my husband, 'Wow, let's move.' He said, 'Let's do it.' And that was it, we simply started the process of being accepted here," she recalled.

"There are places where it's more dangerous, places where it's less, but ultimately the danger exists. And there are places where people need us more—so you go forward despite the fear."

Rebuilding and Growing

For Avital Gitler, a midwife, the move required quite a few sacrifices. She moved away from her family and her workplace at Soroka Medical Center, and her husband, who runs an independent business, had to rebuild part of the routine they had already established. Gilad and Aviya Yehlomi had already marked Kerem Shalom as a possibility even before October 7, and were even supposed to arrive for a tour just days later. The massacre halted plans for a time, but despite everything, they did not give up.

For Amihai Schindler, who was severely wounded on October 7 while shielding the safe room door with his body to save his family, the change is deeply personal. Three years later, he watches the place where he was nearly murdered fill up once again with families and children. Alongside the temporary structures where the new families live, an additional neighborhood consisting of 14 housing units is currently under construction.