Mefalsim ( he, מְפַלְּסִים, ''lit.'' Road pavers) is a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in southern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Located near 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. ...

and covering 11,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council The Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שער הנגב, ''Mo'atza Azorit Sha'ar HaNegev'', ''lit.'' Gate of the Negev Regional Council), is a regional council in the north-western Negev, in Israel's Southern District. T ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The village was established in 1949 by members of the MAMLT youth movement, most of whom were immigrants from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

.Mefalsim, Shaar Hanegev
Negev Information Centre It was named for the immigrants from

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

who paved the way for others to make

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

. After the

Israeli disengagement from Gaza 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 ...

in 2005, the kibbutz absorbed some of the evicted families. Since 2001, the kibbutz has been hit by dozens of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, with a few buildings destroyed, including the kindergarten in 2012. In 2018, the village was the first location set ablaze by a

fire balloon An incendiary balloon (or balloon bomb) is a balloon inflated with a lighter-than-air gas such as hot air, hydrogen, or helium, that has a bomb, incendiary device, or Molotov cocktail attached. The balloon is carried by the prevailing winds ...

References

External links

Kibbutz website

Living under the volcano of Gaza
Euronews, 23 November 2012 {{Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council Argentine-Jewish culture in Israel Uruguayan diaspora in Israel Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1949 Gaza envelope Populated places in Southern District (Israel) South American-Jewish culture in Israel 1949 establishments in Israel