ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM

JULY 11, 2026 15:53

Israel features numerous memorials honoring those who fought and sacrificed for the country, yet the structure at the summit of the Ammunition Hill Heritage Site in central Jerusalem stands apart from the rest.

Constructed atop rugged stones first arranged by 66th Battalion members to honor their comrades shortly after the Six Day War, the site has developed into a place where the battalion recalls its losses from every major Israeli conflict.

It now displays four distinct elements. The initial one follows the standard format set by the Defense Ministry and commemorates the 36 soldiers lost during the 1967 fight for Jerusalem.

The next element remembers those who lived through the 1967 Ammunition Hill battle yet died in subsequent wars and operations.

It was recently updated to recognize two reserve soldiers from the 66th Battalion who fell in the Israel-Hamas War: Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Tal Shua, 31, of Beersheba, and Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Neriya Shaer, 36, of Yavne.

'Please God, may this be the last page of names to turn, the last addition to the monument'

Regarding the third element, Alon Wald, head of operations at Ammunition Hill, explained to The Jerusalem Post that the team chose not to add another standard stone using the original lettering. Instead, they shaped it into a sculpture meant to leave a strong impression.

Formed from a folded iron sheet, this part pays tribute to the children and grandchildren of the Six Day War veterans who lost their lives while serving or in terror incidents.

Wald described it as positioned like a folded page, conveying a plea to the divine and to one another that this should mark the final names added and that loss might finally cease.

Yet the story continued beyond that point.

The fourth and most recent section, crafted from matching iron, provides a solemn conclusion for five Jerusalem liberators who were seized and killed by Hamas during or following the October 7 attack.

Wald noted that this sense of finality was unexpected, turning what was meant as a closing page into an entire column instead.

The five men - Amitai Yaakov Ben Zvi (80), Oded Lifshitz (83), Yoram Metzger (80), Avraham Munder (79), and Chaim Peri (79) - all served in the IDF 66th Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade during 1967.

Decades later they settled in the Gaza-border kibbutz of Nir Oz, where Hamas killed 47 residents and abducted 76 others on October 7, including Metzger, Peri, Munder, and Lifshitz.

Ammunition Hill acts to safeguard its own

Wald told the Post that once the team learned the men were held captive, they removed their details from public records so that Hamas would not recognize the significance of these living legends and place them at greater risk.

The decision was made internally without outside prompting. Names were deleted from lists and databases to prevent any discovery of their identities by those holding captives.

The information has since been restored to the site's archives and online records.

Hamas killed Ben Zvi inside his home. His caregiver, Gelienor Jimmy Leano Pacheco (34), was taken during the attack and later freed in the November 2023 hostage exchange.

Lifshitz and Metzger were seized from their Nir Oz homes together with their wives, Yocheved Lifshitz and Tamar Metzger. Yocheved was released on October 23, 2023, and Tamar followed in November.

Oded Lifshitz was killed in 2024 while held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. His remains were returned more than a year later along with those of Kfir and Ariel Bibas and a Gaza woman wrongly identified by Hamas as their mother, Shiri Bibas.

Munder was taken with his wife Ruth, daughter Keren, and grandson Ohad. Hamas freed the three in November 2023.

His 50-year-old son Roee died in the attack.

Metzger and Peri were reported killed in captivity by the IDF in June 2024. Two months later Nir Oz confirmed that Munder had also died while held.

On August 20 the remains of Metzger, Peri, and Munder were brought back to Israel.

Wald recounted the long wait for the return of these men, whom he had known since childhood as the son of Capt. Rami Wald, a paratrooper killed in the Six Day War.

Peri, Metzger, and Munder had been selected for the Adopt-a-Liberator program at Ammunition Hill.

Supported by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, the program connects high school students with Six Day War veterans to record their personal histories.

It forms part of a larger project to build a full archive covering the Battle for Jerusalem and other fronts of the Six Day War.

The three veterans were scheduled to start work with students from Nofey-Habsor High School in Kibbutz Magen shortly after Sukkot in 2023.

Magen, five kilometers from the Gaza border, faced an assault by roughly 100 Hamas terrorists on October 7.

An IDF investigation released in September 2024 showed that the kibbutz 26-member emergency team successfully repelled the attackers and stopped any abductions.

Two residents died: Avi Fleisher of the security team, who succumbed to wounds after evacuation, and Ofir Mordechai Yaron, killed while heading to assist the defense.

After the full scale of the attack became clear, Nofey-Habsor contacted Ammunition Hill for guidance on next steps.

Wald reassured them that the veterans would return, the scholarship would remain available, and the project would continue.

The assurance allowed the school to proceed while the nation awaited an end to the fighting.

Following the announcement of the three deaths in captivity, the students again sought direction from Ammunition Hill.

Wald told project manager Eyal that the scholarships would still be honored by documenting the families instead, preserving the stories of the three men through those they left behind.

Nofey-Habsor students record stories of their intended mentors

Nofey-Habsor students have since finished short films on the lives of Peri and Metzger and will begin work on Munder in the months ahead.

The films include family interviews, photographs, video clips, and audio material.

In the film about Peri, his wife Osnat recounted the morning of October 7 and the moment he was taken.

She described how they sheltered after the sirens sounded but soon understood the barrage was unusual and far more dangerous.

They chose to seal the shelter, remain silent, switch off lights and the television, and power down their phones.

Terrorists entered the house three times.

At first they could not locate the shelter door, broke windows and the glass rear door, then departed.

The sound of footsteps on broken glass made every movement audible, and Osnat wondered how many attackers were present.

Soon another terrorist moved through the home.

This individual found the shelter door, forced it open, and was met by Peri standing in the entrance.

Peri seized the attacker by the shoulders, threw him backward against a wall, and the man fled.

Minutes later more terrorists arrived and Peri again blocked their entry.

They spoke to him in English, instructing him to come with them and promising no harm if he cooperated.

At that instant the couple realized the attackers were unaware Osnat was inside.

Peri decided instantly to go with them in the hope they would leave without searching further, and the tactic succeeded.

Osnat said his actions exemplified a dreamer who turns ambitions into reality, citing the White House Gallery in Nir Oz as proof.

Peri founded the gallery in 1999 from an abandoned white house on the kibbutz grounds.

In the film about Metzger, his granddaughter Ofir described his Six Day War experiences and the moment the family understood both grandparents had been taken.

Metzger was among the paratroopers who escorted former IDF chief rabbi Shlomo Goren onto the Temple Mount and into the Western Wall Plaza at the close of the 1967 battle.

Ofir recalled her grandfather describing how the paratroopers waited with Goren for permission to enter the Temple Mount.

Once allowed, the rabbi took Metzger by the hand and led him onto the Temple Mount, making him the first to walk with Goren into the Kotel Plaza.

Ofir said the family sensed something gravely wrong around 7:30 a.m. when footage of armed terrorists in Sderot began circulating.

The final message from her grandfather, sent after repeated inquiries, used humor to ease the tension.

She shared a screenshot showing his 8:50 a.m. reply: Just like the guy who fell from the Empire State Building said, so far so good.

The family believes the couple was taken around 9:30 a.m. Only later that evening, after security sweeps, did neighbors notice the damaged house and realize the pair were missing.

After the early release of women from Nir Oz, including Lifshitz wife, the family learned that Hamas used Metzger as a translator for other hostages and to interpret Israeli broadcasts.

His language skills earned him a measure of respect from captors and allowed him to shield fellow hostages through conversation.

They occasionally permitted him to watch television, including Al Jazeera, giving him some awareness of events outside.

His calm presence reassured other captives throughout their ordeal.

Both Hebrew documentaries can be viewed on the Ammunition Hill YouTube channel.

Six Day War veteran Muki Nin-Nun, who fought alongside the five men, told the Post that while the ceasefire ends active fighting, the real struggle continues for bereaved families who carry the legacy of those who fell.

Thanks to them, he said, the living carry forward their light, and that is how their story should be told.