On a field near Moshav Tkuma, west of the Re’im junction, stands a wall of burned and bullet-riddled vehicles from October 7, 2023. Approximately 1,000 cars, trucks, ambulances, and motorcycles are piled here — the vehicles of people who tried to flee the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival and the surrounding communities along Route 232.
What Happened
On the morning of October 7, thousands of Hamas militants breached the Gaza border fence and attacked Israeli communities and the Nova music festival. Festival-goers and residents fled in their cars along Route 232, the road that runs parallel to the Gaza border. Militants shot at engines to disable the vehicles, then shot the occupants. Many cars were deliberately set on fire. The road became a killing field stretching for kilometers.
The Site
The vehicles were initially moved to the Tkuma lot to clear the roads and to allow ZAKA volunteers to search for human remains. For more than three weeks after the attack, the vehicles were vacuumed from sunrise to sunset to collect the ashes of victims who had been burned beyond recognition, so that those remains could be buried according to Jewish tradition. The site was never planned as a memorial — it became one. Visitors walk among the vehicles in silence, reading license plates, seeing bullet holes, smelling the residue of fire. Personal items were found inside the cars for weeks afterward.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Car Memorial at Tkuma is one of the most emotionally devastating sites in Israel. Hoshen Tours visits as part of a broader journey through the Gaza Envelope, including the Nova Festival Memorial and the resilient communities of the region.