On the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, Israel’s Ministry of Heritage is taking steps to formally protect bomb shelters in the Gaza border communities where scenes of massacre and heroism unfolded.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu contacted the heads of regional councils in the Gaza border area and the deputy director of the Israel Antiquities Authority on Thursday, announcing plans to designate the shelters, including the shelter where Aner Shapira was killed, as antiquities and national heritage sites.

The move is intended to provide the shelters with legal protection and prevent alterations that could erase physical evidence of the events of October 7. The Heritage Ministry said the decision followed internal staff work and concerns over local initiatives to remove structures, repaint them or conceal signs of damage as part of efforts to “clean up the area."

Eliyahu is invoking authority granted to him under Israel’s Antiquities Law. While the law primarily protects archaeological findings dating from before 1700, it also allows the minister to designate a later structure as an “antiquity" based on its historical significance.

The designation will not involve expropriating the shelters or transferring ownership to the state. The ministry emphasized that ownership will remain unchanged. However, the shelters will be placed under a preservation regime, meaning any physical alterations will require prior approval and professional coordination with conservation officials from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Heritage Ministry.

“The events of October 7 burned a deep wound into our flesh, but they also revealed the depths of the human spirit, heroism and mutual responsibility that will be remembered for generations to come," Eliyahu said. “In the midst of the inferno, the bomb shelters scattered throughout the Gaza border communities became scenes of a struggle for survival, bloodshed and heroism that cannot be measured."

“Our duty to future generations is to ensure that the stories of heroism and loss are told from within these spaces themselves, rather than disappearing because of bureaucratic considerations or a quick desire to ‘clean up the area,’" he added.

The directive has been passed to the relevant field and implementation teams, with the goal of preserving the shelters as evidence of the October 7 massacre and as memorial and commemoration sites for the families of those who were killed and for the wider public.