Ein HaShlosha () is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

in the western

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert, and also in the

Gaza envelope The Gaza envelope (, ''otef aza'') encompasses the populated areas in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel that are within of the Gaza Strip border and are therefore within range of Mortar (weapon), mortar shells and Qas ...

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

Eshkol Regional Council Eshkol Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Ezorit Eshkol'') is a regional council in the north-western Negev, in Israel's Southern District. The regional council's territory lies midway between Ashkelon and Beersheba, bounded on the west by the Gaza St ...

History

The kibbutz was named in memory of three of the founding members who were killed 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 ...

: Deborah Epstein, Yaakov Baruch and Avraham Geller. It was established during the 1950s by a

Nahal Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

group of Zionist youth from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, members of the youth movement

HaNoar HaTzioni Hanoar Hatzioni (, lit. ''The Zionist Youth''), fully "Histadrut Halutzit Olamit Hanoar Hatzioni", or "HH" for short, is a youth movement established in 1926,

, on lands of the former kibbutz Neve Yair (Neve Yair was established in 1949 by members of the Lehi but was abandoned in June 1950). During its first years the kibbutz suffered bombardment by the

Egyptian army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

. Almost adjacent to the Gaza border with Khan Yunis, the kibbutz was regularly hit by

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

gunfire during the

Gaza–Israel conflict The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict beginning in 1948, when about 200,000 of the more than 700,000 Nakba, Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes settled in the Gaza Strip as ref ...

in 2008. On 15 January 2008, an

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ian volunteer, Carlos Chavez, was shot and killed by a

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

while working on the kibbutz. During

Operation Protective Edge The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

, at least 825 rockets were fired at the Eshkol region, where the kibbutz is located. In some cases,

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

roofs were damaged after being hit with rocket fire. The kibbutz, being near the border, has a rocket alarm only 5 seconds before the probable hit. When there are tensions, villagers stay long hours and sometimes days in bomb shelters, being unable to leave it even for a short period of time. People reportedly said they were afraid to shower, and were unable to even cook.

2023 attacks

As part of the

October 7 attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

, approximately 90 militants infiltrated the kibbutz, killing four civilians, looting, shooting, and burning houses. After a 5-month evacuation to

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

, the kibbutz's 320 residents, including 92 children, returned in March 2024.

Economy

The kibbutz is largely agricultural, relying on

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

farming. It also has a small factory that manufactures lever arch files. In March 2006 hundreds of

turkeys The turkey is a large bird in the genus ''Meleagris'', native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocell ...

were found dead, spreading fears of the bird flu virus in

Notable people

* Yizhar Shai (born 1963), member of the Knesset 23EinHaShlosha.jpg, The main lawn in Kibbutz Ein Hasholsha ResidencesKibbutzEin-Hasholsha.jpg, Residences EinHasholsha-synagogue.jpg, synagogue

References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1950 Gaza envelope Populated places in Southern District (Israel) South American-Jewish culture in Israel 1950 establishments in Israel