Ammunition Hill memorial now honors Six-Day War veterans killed on October 7

A memorial at Jerusalem's Ammunition Hill Heritage Site has evolved to honor not only those who fell in the 1967 Six-Day War but also soldiers lost in subsequent conflicts, including the recent Israel-Hamas War. The site, originally established by the 66th Battalion to remember comrades lost in the Battle for Jerusalem, now bears four distinct aspects of remembrance.

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Please God, may this be the last page of names to turn, the last addition to the monument. Please let death stop.

The initial aspect honors the 36 fighters who fell in the 1967 battle. A second aspect remembers survivors of that battle who later died in Israel's wars. Most recently, the memorial was updated to include two reservists from the 66th Battalion, Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Tal Shua and Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Neriya Shaer, who were killed during the Israel-Hamas War.

The newest and most poignant addition commemorates five veterans of the 66th Battalion who fought in the 1967 Six-Day War and were subsequently killed by Hamas during or after the October 7 massacre. These men, Amitai Yaakov Ben Zvi, Oded Lifshitz, Yoram Metzger, Avraham Munder, and Chaim Peri, all retired to the Gaza border community of Nir Oz. On October 7, Hamas attacked Nir Oz, killing 47 residents and taking 76 hostage, including Metzger, Peri, Munder, and Lifshitz.

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But it didn’t end there.

Alon Wald, Ammunition Hill's head of operations, described the memorial's design, including a folded iron sheet sculpture intended as a prayer for an end to death. He noted the devastating closure represented by the addition of the five veterans, stating, "It’s not a page, it’s a whole column." The memorial's continuous updates underscore a deep commitment to remembering those who served and sacrificed for Israel throughout its history.

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This closure is something that we never thought would happen, this prayer of the last page. But it’s not a page, it’s a whole column.