Be’eri rides again — Gaza border kibbutz inaugurates world-class bike park

Kibbutz Be’eri inaugurated a new bike park, which is expected to host the Israeli Pump Track Championships, followed by Israel’s first Pump Track World Championship qualifier.

The opening this week is just about three years after October 7, when Hamas attacked Be’eri, in the Gaza Envelope, murdered 102 of its 1,000 residents, and took another 30 as hostages. Most of the people who lived in Be’eri before the massacre have not yet returned to their homes.

The park was created primarily for children and young people from Be’eri and neighboring communities devastated by October 7. It provides a place to meet, ride, train, and rebuild confidence through cycling.

Children and young people from Be’eri and other Western Negev communities rode the new track for the first time during the inauguration, joined by veteran cyclists from the kibbutz.

The ceremony was hosted by Be’eri resident Aya Meidan, who survived an ambush by Hamas terrorists while on her way to her regular Saturday morning ride on October 7. She opened the event by honoring 14 cyclists and triathletes from Be’eri and other Western Negev communities who were murdered that day, many while riding on the region’s roads and trails.

“We received far more than a cycling track. This is a path toward recovery and a future,” Meidan said through tears. “We will always remember the riders we lost. But this new park will help restore a heartbeat to our wounded community and to the entire Western Negev. It is a place that will bring joy back to our children. We have a country to rebuild and a people to heal, and we will do it through our own small steps. Today, this was our image of victory.”