Israel's Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism (i.e. Memorial Day) will begin with a minute-long siren at 8 p.m. next Tuesday, as Israel mourns 23,320 Israelis killed at war or in terror attacks - 116 more than in 2014, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Defense.
In total, 16,760 families are "bereaved families" in Israel, with 9,753 grieving parents, 4,958 widows, and 2,098 orphans.
Of those, 67 soldiers fell during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, adding 131 bereaved parents to the list. Eleven women lost their husbands, 24 children lost parents, two were born orphans, and 187 lost siblings.
A full 1.5 million people are expected to visit 52 military cemeteries Tuesday and Wednesday. Ahead of the ceremony, 4 million stickers commemorating the day have been distributed to cemeteries, ceremony leaders, and educational institutions throughout Israel; tens of thousands of stickers were also sent abroad.
In addition, hundreds of buses and shuttles will be made available to the public at Mount Herzl and all over the country, and 450 thousand bottles of water will be distributed to the bereaved families and the public at the entrance to the cemetery. 132 Magen David Adom (MDA) mobile units will be on-call throughout the day.
120,000 bunches of flowers will be placed on the graves of the fallen in Israel and abroad, and more than 20,000 chairs will be placed throughout military cemeteries for bereaved parents.