The death road to Be'eri in Israel's Gaza Envelope

‘If they think we will go away from here, we will not,’ say Hamas attack survivors.

- JOYEETA BASU

Route 232 has a new name. Located deep in the southern part of Israel, it moves through the western Negev desert to connect a group of kibbutzim-plural for kibbutz, or a communal settlement-inside 3 to 6 km of the Gaza border. This area is known as the Gaza Envelope, Israel's southern district, where the kibbutzim of Be'eri, Re'im, Magen, etc, are located. Although originally a desert, Gaza Envelope has been transformed by Israel into a land where agriculture is possible. The kibbutzim are clean, green and quiet oases of prosperity, reflecting the sheer persistence and hard work of the Israelis over the decades. Be'eri is one of the oldest settlements here, founded in 1946, even before Israel came into existence in 1948. These are the areas where even Gazans would come to work and make a living. Fenced on all sides, and with individual houses, a community dining hall, a children's nursery, etc., there is a bucolic quality about the place. But then came 7 October 2023. It were these rural settlements, the kibbutzim bordering Gaza that were the first to be attacked by thousands of terrorists who crossed into Israel. Accompanied by Gazan civilians, they dismembered the district, going on a spree of looting, killing, raping, decapitating ordinary civilians, who had barely woken up on that fateful Saturday morning. It was Route 232 that brought the Hamas and others to the kibbutzimthe road that they controlled by shooting and setting fire to anything and anyone on sight. It was this road that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would have to take to save the people. So the Hamas nukhba ("elite" terrorist forces) squads waited here in the bus shelters dotting the road to ambush the IDF.

Nearly 1,200 people were killed that day, while over 200 people were taken hostage.

Route 232 has a new name-Death Road 232.