The ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri’s dental clinic, which was destroyed by terrorists in the October 7 massacre, were demolished on Tuesday morning in a memorial ceremony attended by the families of victims and members of the kibbutz.
The demolition of the clinic comes as part of extensive efforts to rehabilitate the kibbutz, which suffered extensively on October 7 both in terms of slain or kidnapped residents – 102 people were murdered – as well as infrastructure.
The kibbutz aims to build an educational center where the clinic stood and to finish the project by 2026.
On October 7, the dental clinic became an ad hoc emergency center for wounded kibbutz members, all of whom were being treated by a nurse, Nirit Honvald Kornfeld, a paramedic, Amit Mann, and a doctor, Daniel Levy.
Several kibbutz members guarded the clinic against terrorists, engaging in hours of shooting before they eventually broke in and opened fire on those inside. Five out of the seven were killed.
Mann and Levy were killed in the clinic that day, along with Gil Buyum, Eitan Hadad, and Shahar Tzemach.
Yair Avital – who was being treated for wounds – and Nirit Honvald Kornfeld survived.
Several kibbutz members spoke at the commemoration event on Tuesday, including kibbutz head Gal Cohen, Amit Mann’s sister, Haviva, and Shahar Tzemach’s wife, Ofri, and father, Doron.
“The building will be physically destroyed, but it will remain in the memory of all of us,” said Doron Tzemach. “Since October 7, 2023, this building has represented all the evil on the other side of the border, the terrorists of the Nukba who slaughtered, set fire to, and kidnapped our friends and our children, and all the good in this kibbutz.
“[This building represents] the fighting spirit of Shahar, Eitan, and Gil, may their memory be blessed, who left their homes to protect the members of the kibbutz while everyone else was defending themselves. A few came out to fight many and were killed in the defense of the members of the kibbutz, killed while the IDF abandoned them and the rest of the kibbutz members.”
Return of the hostages, state inquiry
Ofri called for a state investigation into the events of October 7 and a return of the hostages.
“We are indeed clearing the rubble, but not in order to forget,” she added. “The hostages are still being abused every day, suffering and hungry; they are still alive.”
“We will remember the total mobilization and friendship of Amit Mann and Dr. Daniel Levy, who sacrificed their lives for the wounded,” the kibbutz said.
“They left everything behind and came to save lives and were killed during the mission to rescue the wounded, and we will cherish the survivors of the inferno: Nirit, who was evacuated to treat the wounded, and Yair, a member of the emergency squad, who was seriously injured and evacuated.”
“The dental clinic building and the fallen in it will be remembered and commemorated forever. The legacy of the fallen here and throughout the kibbutz will be a pillar of fire for us that will chart the path for us.”