Wednesday | October 7 | 19:00 | Hebrew
Included in the museum admission fee

On Simchat Torah, 22 Tishrei 5784 (October 7, 2023), thousands of Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians from the Gaza Strip breached the border fence and carried out acts of massacre and destruction in communities and kibbutzim in the Gaza border region, along roads, and at the Re’im parking area, where the Nova music festival was taking place.

Approximately 1,200 civilians and soldiers were murdered or killed in the fighting, and hundreds of homes were burned. Locating and identifying the victims proved particularly challenging due to the extreme violence.

Two weeks after the massacre, at the request of the IDF, teams from the Israel Antiquities Authority were deployed to the Gaza border region to search for the remains of missing persons in the communities that had been attacked and in open areas. Due to the poor state of preservation of human remains at the massacre sites, archaeologists were called upon to survey and sift through burned sites, including buildings, vehicles, and open areas.

The teams worked for approximately a year in the kibbutzim of Be’eri, Nir Oz, Kfar Aza, Kissufim, Netiv HaAsara, Re’im, Sufa, and Holit, as well as at the site of the Nova music festival. Roads, open fields, and hundreds of vehicles were also searched.

As there was no prior experience of working under such circumstances, methods and procedures were developed in real time. The teams approached the scenes as archaeological sites, applying their professional expertise and experience. Archaeological methods of survey, excavation, and documentation, with particular emphasis on archaeological context, assisted in locating missing persons and providing closure for their families.

The lecture will present examples of complex sites and the methods developed to address the challenges encountered in the field.

Lecture presented in collaboration with the Israel Exploration Society

Cancellation Policy:
• Cancellation and a full refund are available up to 48 hours before the scheduled activity / event.
To do so, please contact the museum by email at contact@blmj.org or by phone at +972-2-5955337.