Mevo Dotan ( he, מְבוֹא דּוֹתָן, , Dothan's approach) is an Israeli settlement in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Located in the south of the

Dothan Valley Dothan Valley ( he, עמק דותן ''Emek Dotan''), called Sahl Arraba (سهل عرّابة) in Arabic, is a fertile tectonic valley in the northern West Bank. The region is about eleven kilometers long and four kilometers wide. There are several ...

east of

Baqa al-Gharbiyye Baqa al-Gharbiyye ( ar, باقة الغربية, he, באקה אל-גרביה, בָּקַה אל-עַ'רְבִּיָּה; lit. ''Baqa West'') is a predominantly Arab city in the "Triangle" region of Israel near the Green Line. In 2003, Baqa al-Gh ...

and adjacent to the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

town of

Ya'bad Ya'bad ( ar, يعبد) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, 20 kilometers west of Jenin in the Jenin Governorate. It is a major agricultural town with most of its land covered with olive groves and grain fields. According to the Palest ...

, it is organised as a

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

and falls under the jurisdiction of

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שומרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Is ...

. In it had a population of . The

international community The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. As a rhetorical term Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is t ...

considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

According to

Wafa , abbreviation = WAFA , logo = wafalogo.jpg , image = , image_size = , image_alt = , image_caption = , type = News agency , products = Wire service, News, Photos, Video , formation = , fo ...

, Mevo Dotan is built on land belonging to the

village of

. In 2001, following the outbreak of the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...

, and the degradation of the security level in the area, almost half the residents left the village. The heads of the village committee called for public assistance in repopulating the empty homes and in 2003, the 'Golan Yeshiva' decided to accept the challenge. Several families moved to the village, founded a

kollel A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...

and rejuvenated the religious life in the village.

Alonei Arava Nature Reserve

Two kilometers south of Mevo Dotan is the Alonei Arava Nature Reserve, named after the oak trees (''alonim'') that grow in the area and the nearby Palestinian village of Arrabeh. East of the nature reserve is Jabal al-Aqra' (326 m), and the nature reserve overlaps the hill's northwest range.

References

External links

Official website
* Jerusalem Post 6/23/05: "Hermesh between the crosshairs
Peace NowUnited Jerusalem
Haaretz {{Shomron Regional Council Religious Israeli settlements Populated places established in 1977 1977 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Israeli settlements in the West Bank