Driving down there was pretty open until Highway 232 where traffic was a bit backed up. Highway 232 became known as the Road of blood or the Road of Death, in the ocntext of October 7. A lot of the massacre happened on 232 with the terrorists attacking the Nova festival at the more southern side and going north towards Kibbutz Beeri, attacking cars with automatic weapons and RPG and just horrible bloodshed everywhere along that route. Obviously driving down and seeing the road signs pointing to the various towns and communities whose names we are all familiar because of how they were attacked 3 years ago was surreal. The road was lined with the protective shelters that were very much part of the events of October 3 as people tried to hide in them but they became sitting ducks for the terrorists. The road was lined with ad hoc memorials as well.

After a bit of traffic we made it to Reim and went in. I must note it has changed a lot since I was last there (dont know if the changes are recent - I have been there a few times but not recently). First, the road there is no longer a dirt road but has been paved. New displays and presentations have been established with a lot of signage both giving directions and giving the stories and events of the day. There are displays of the yellow trash bin people tried hiding in but most were eventually massacred, exhibitof the police who fell trying to protect the civilians, the people who died in the destroyed ambulance, obviously the party goers, and more. There was a tefillin stand present along with the main tent in which a religious scribe spends his time writing sifrei torah in honor of the soldiers and in memory of the victims.

We walked through much of the site and the presentations learning and listening. There were a lot of people there today, obviously, including many family members of victims. We listened to parents tell the stories of their kids and listened to other people (we didnt necessarily know who they were) who were guiding groups or just describing the events to individuals.

After leaving Reim we stopped on the 232 heading north at a migunit, one of the enforced roadside shelters that became a killing site 3 years ago. 

From there we continued a little further north and visited the Tatzpitaniot Memorial site - the site honoring the IDF spotters who were slaughtered. The site overlooks Nachal Oz and sits between Saad and Beeri, Kfar Azza and Alumim. 

The spotters were stationed in the Nachal Oz Army outpost and it was overrun by some 150 terrorists. The tatzpitaniot are a particularly tragic story as in the months preceding October 7 they had warned their superiors of the activities they were viewing just over the border on the Gaza said but their warnings and concerns were dismissed.

Hashem Yikom Damam