Bnei Dekalim () is a

community settlement A community settlement (, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of town or village in Israel and in the West Bank. In an ordinary town, anyone may buy property, but in a community settlement, the village's residents are organized in a cooperative an ...

in southern

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 ...

. It falls under the jurisdiction of

Lakhish Regional Council Lakhish Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Lakhish'') is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel. It surrounds the ancient city of Lakhish and the modern city of Kiryat Gat. It was founded in 1955. Today it includes 15 moshavim ...

and had a population of in .

History

The village was established by former residents of Neve Dekalim, an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

, following the

Israeli disengagement from Gaza In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unilaterally: Israeli a ...

in 2005. A cornerstone laying ceremony was held in 2009, and in 2011, the construction of streets and infrastructure and the division of lots was completed. The first families to inhabit the town arrived in 2013, and initially resided in mobile homes. The first permanent homes were occupied shortly thereafter. There are two regional schools, one for boys and one for girls, as well as a kindergarten and

ulpana Ulpana () is a girls-only Jewish_education#Jewish_schools, Jewish high school in Israel, delivering reinforcement of torah study, religious education and social activities, alongside Bagrut, the state curriculum. The ''Ulpana'' is to be found pr ...

, a clinic, a synagogue, a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

, a community center and a park.

References

{{Authority control Community settlements Populated places established in 2009 2009 establishments in Israel