Dikla ( he, דקלה, ''Palm'') was an Israeli settlement in the northeastern part of the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

established during Israel's occupation of the peninsula from the end of the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, until that part of the Sinai was handed over to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

in 1982 as part of the terms of the 1979

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...

. Located in the Rafah Plain region south of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

, Dikla was established in May 1969 as a pioneer Nahal outpost known as Dekalim (palms). The namesake for the community was a palm reportedly planted by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

spy

Avshalom Feinberg Avshalom Feinberg ( he, אבשלום פיינברג, 23 October 1889 – 20 January 1917) was one of the leaders of Nili, a Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine helping the British fight the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Feinberg wa ...

, who was killed in this area by a Bedouin. He was traveling between Palestine and Egypt, delivering intelligence for the British. A date in his pocket became the namesake palm.Gorenberg, Gershom. ''Accidental Empire'', p. 197–198 The outpost was later demilitarized and handed over for residential purposes. The first residents came from the right-wing Betar movement, linked to the

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sha ...

party of Menachem Begin. Land for the community totaled . Following the forced evacuation and demolition of Dikla, a replacement community,

Neve Dekalim Neve Dekalim ( he, נְוֵה דְּקָלִים) (lit. "Oasis of Palms") was an Israeli settlement and a community in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip. It was founded in 1983 after the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula ...

was founded in the

. It eventually grew to become the largest Jewish settlement in Gaza, and the administrative center of the Gush Katif bloc. Following the precedent set in Sinai, Neve Dekalim was demolished due to

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip. Th ...

from Gaza in August 2005.

References

{{Coord, 31, 13, 8.81, N, 34, 7, 27.12, E, display=title Former Israeli settlements in Sinai 1969 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate