Avivim () is a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, in the northernmost part of

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...

, less than one kilometre (3,000 feet) from the Blue Line with Lebanon. In , its population was .

History

Mandatory period

In 1920, Saliha was designated part of Lebanon under the auspices of the Franco-British Boundary Agreement. It was one of 24 villages transferred to British control in 1924 following the 1923 demarcation of the border between the British Mandate for Palestine and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. It thus formed part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Under the 1947

United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...

, Saliha was to be included in the proposed Arab state, while the boundary between it and the proposed Jewish state was to run north of the built-up area of the village. During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, Saliha was the site of a massacre carried out by Israeli forces shortly before the village was completely depopulated. The built structures in the village, with the exception of an elementary school for boys, were also destroyed. Israeli forces blew up the village mosque, killing 60–94 people who were inside.

South Lebanon conflict

The moshav's proximity to the Lebanese

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

has made it a target for violent attacks, most notably the Avivim school bus massacre. On May 8, 1970, militants of the pro-Syrian Baathist

As-Sa'iqa As-Sa'iqa (), officially known as Vanguard for the Popular Liberation War – Lightning Forces, () is a Palestinian Ba'athist political and military faction created by Syria. It is linked to the Palestinian branch of the Syrian-led Ba'ath Pa ...

organization fired two bazooka shells at the community

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to Student transport, transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter ...

, killing nine children and three adults, and injuring 19 others. In October 1970, guerrillas in Lebanon fired mortars at Avivim, triggering an alert along the Lebanese border. Avivim also suffered during the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, and was subject to at least one infiltration attempt by

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

. The moshav also came under fire from Hezbollah forces in the nearby village of Maroun al-Ras, across the border in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Amidst the 2023 conflict between Hamas and Israel,

militants directed their focus to northern Israeli border communities, necessitating the evacuation of several areas, including Avivim. on October 22, the IDF struck a

cell in southern Lebanon, preventing an

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulde ...

attack on Avivim.

References

{{Authority control Moshavim Populated places in Northern District (Israel) Populated places established in 1958 1958 establishments in Israel