The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) Board of Directors approved a budget of four million shekels (~$1.3 million) to upgrade the Nova Memorial Site and the Iron Swords Forest in Israel’s northwestern Negev, the organization said on Thursday.
Both sites have become national memorial spaces in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion on Oct. 7, 2023, with the Nova Memorial Site alone attracting more than a quarter of a million visitors during the first four months of 2026, according to KKL-JNF.
The approved project will extend a water line and increase the site’s water supply for both visitor and irrigation needs; include drainage works; expand the original dance floor area at the Nova site due to overcrowding and the growing number of memorial signs; and replace memorial signs in the Iron Swords Forest, commemorating the 2,100 fallen and murdered since the Oct. 7 massacre, after some were damaged by weather conditions.
“Three years after the October 7 massacre, our duty is to ensure that the site remains dignified, accessible and safe, for families, visitors and future generations. Upgrading the infrastructure and memorial elements is our moral and national obligation,” Eyal Ostrinsky, chairman of KKL-JNF, was quoted as saying in the statement.
A total of 378 party-goers and security personnel in the open-air music festival were butchered by Gazan terrorists, and 44 more were abducted into the Gaza Strip.
