Forty-five Israeli newborns—34 boys and 11 girls—have been named after Kibbutz Be’eri, where Hamas terrorists butchered more than 100 people during their Oct. 7 assault in Jewish communities in southern Israel, the Population and Immigration Authority said on Thursday.
Be’eri was one of the hardest-hit areas in the Hamas attacks. Some 30% of the kibbutz’s inhabitants were murdered or taken hostage by terrorists.
The names Oz, Erez and Nir have also gained popularity since the beginning of the war, according to the Population and Immigration Authority, also alluding to Israeli localities that were destroyed in the Oct. 7 massacre.
Israeli authorities registered 50 newborns by the name of Oz, 10 named Erez and eight named Nir.
In addition, three baby girls were named Nova, after the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, where at least 260 people were killed.
In the almost seven weeks since Hamas launched its cross-border attack on the northwestern Negev, 17,629 births have been registered in the Jewish state, the Interior Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Israel Katz on Thursday pledged to turn the hard-hit southern border communities into “energy islands” that will be a global model of advanced and renewable energy.
The multi-faceted proposal for the reconstruction of the areas damaged during the Hamas attack on Israel includes the building of storage infrastructures, R&D centers and natural-gas infrastructures.
“We will not spare a shekel in the reconstruction of the communities near the Gaza border,” Katz said. “Those who thought they would conquer us will receive prosperous and flourishing communities in response.”
Earlier this week, Israeli lawmakers voted in favor of a 1.15 billion shekel ($308 million) plan for rebuilding, developing and strengthening the Gaza border communities.
