With funding from Israel, the United States and France, workers broke ground last month on a new multimillion-dollar athletics center in southern Israel’s Sha’ar Hanegev region — one of the hardest-hit areas in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacres — fulfilling the longtime dream of the region’s former mayor, Ofir Libstein, who was killed in the terror attack and for whom the facility will be named.

“Ofir was a close friend and an extraordinary individual who dedicated his life to developing his community,” Russell Robinson, CEO of JNF-USA said in a statement. “The new athletics center embodies the strong spirit of Sha’ar HaNegev and reflects our commitment to the region’s ongoing growth.”

Construction on the $5 million project — funded by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), JNF-USA and KKL-France — started in mid-March, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Maia Ifrah, director of international relations and partnerships at Sha’ar HaNegev’s Regional Council, told eJewishPhilanthropy. 

According to a statement, the center will include infrastructure to support a variety of sports, including professional athletics tracks, soccer fields and pits for the long jump and high jump. Some 1,500 weekly visitors are expected to frequent the center, which will cater to both professional and amateur athletes, and support educational and after-school athletics programs.

It’s also part of the organizations’ broader aim of building infrastructure in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. 

“The revival of Israel after the war is the most significant Zionist challenge today. We view this project as an important milestone in the renewed development of the Gaza envelope, following the crisis it endured. This initiative promotes sports in the region, which is essential for both physical and emotional healing,” Ifrah said.

According to Ifrah, the center is also intended to provide a source of resilience and hope for communities in the area, which was devastated in Hamas’ attack. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, over 9,000 residents were dispersed to over 30 evacuation sites around Israel, she said. And to date, three residents of Sha’ar Hanegev — Gali Berman, Ziv Berman and Omri Miran— remain captive in Gaza. 

“In the first weeks, we were busy trying to find funds to be able to address the immediate needs of our residents. Some of them left their houses, or were pulled out of their houses by the military, wearing nothing but the clothes on their bodies. So in the beginning, it was taking care of their most essential needs, ” Ifrah said. “As time progressed, we saw that we had no choice — although it was very, very hard to do — but to start looking towards the future.”