The monument bears the names of the 64 kibbutz members and emergency response team members who were murdered that day along with a map of the kibbutz. The victims' names are etched into iron plates using their own handwriting.
The memorial was built in collaboration with the victims' families and was completed in recent days. It is now open to the public, offering a view of the kibbutz, the surrounding fields, and the Gaza border. In the coming weeks, President Isaac Herzog is expected to visit the site as part of an official inauguration ceremony.
The memorial was constructed by Israel’s Drainage Authority in partnership with the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council and the kibbutz administration. "The idea was to create a path in the middle of the memorial that resembles a kibbutz walkway—concrete pavement with benches, just like in Kfar Aza," said architect Tzvika Pasternak, who designed the site.
Memorial to victims of Kibbutz Kfar Aza massacre
(Video Matan Tzuri)
"But the most powerful aspect is how the names were created," Pasternak added. "Together with the bereaved families, we found handwritten signatures of the victims and replicated their names exactly as they wrote them. That’s why the site is called Ktav V'Shem."
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The central walkway in the memorial, lined with the victims' names, symbolizes an ordinary path within the kibbutz but also reflects the rupture and trauma that Kfar Aza has endured since that dark day.
"At the edge of the memorial stands a metal map of the kibbutz, engraved with the names of key locations, such as the Dor Tza'ir residence, one of the massacre’s focal points where many young people were murdered or abducted — including Gali and Ziv Berman, who remain in Hamas captivity," he said. "The map at the end of the memorial represents the kibbutz’s resilience and rebuilding, despite everything."
The Ktav V'Shem memorial is part of the BaMAH Trail (Bitachon, Mayim, Hitnachalut—Security, Water and Settlement), a route connecting 14 sites that tell the story of settlement in the northern Negev, from pre-state days to the present. These sites highlight the challenges of settlement, securing water for the region, and the struggle of living near Gaza. Each site includes an informational sign and a short film, offering visitors insight into the people behind the names — those who once lived there and are no longer.