Nir Yitzhak (, Yitzhak's Meadow) 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 northwestern

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 of

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 ...

. Located between

Hevel Shalom Hevel Shalom (, lit. ''Shalom region'') is an area in the western Negev desert close to Israel's border with the Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai. This area was elected to be substitutive area for evacuees from Yamit. Villages Villages in Hevel Shal ...

and

Hevel Eshkol Hevel Eshkol (, lit. Eshkol ''region'') is an area in the western Negev close to Israel's border with the Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Sinai. Hevel Eshkol is bordering the Gaza Strip and the Egypt–Israel barrier, Israel–Egypt bord ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of the

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 ...

. In , it had a population of . The area used to be barren prior to the establishment of the kibbutz. Today the Kibbutz engages in agriculture as well as other services. In

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 ...

, Hamas carried out the

Nir Yitzhak attack On 7 October 2023, the Hamas Nuseirat Battalion attacked Nir Yitzhak, a kibbutz close to the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of a surprise attack on Israel. Two civilian members of the kibbutz's security team including its leader, an ...

killing residents and kidnapping others.

History

101683 kibbutz nir yitzhak PikiWiki Israel

The kibbutz was established on 8 December 1949, and like Mashabei Sadeh, was named for

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

commander

Yitzhak Sadeh Yitzhak Sadeh (; born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. Biography Sadeh was bo ...

. It is affiliated with the

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

youth movement. The kibbutz hosts the Garin Tzabar program, a framework for non-Israeli Jews who volunteer to serve in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

2023 attack

On 7 October 2023 Nir Yitzhak was attacked by Hamas militants from Gaza, who killed and kidnapped several of its residents.Times of Israe
article
about 7 Oct 2023 massacre Two of the hostages were freed in February 2024 by the Israeli military, while others died in captivity and their bodies are still being held in

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

Economy

Shahen Agriculture Co. is a field crop production company jointly owned by Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and Kibbutz

Kerem Shalom Kerem Shalom (, "Vineyard of Peace") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located on the Tripoint, triple Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The ki ...

The Kibbutz

According to JNF, the elders of the kibbutz recount "there was only one tree, a dirt road leading to it, and water occasionally arriving by trucks". Today the Kibbutz has an agricultural sector as well as other services including education where children from the area come to study.

Notable residents

* Ido Bachelet, scientist *

Adam Berdichevsky Adam Berdichevsky (; born 19 October 1983) is an Israeli mechanical engineer and competitive wheelchair tennis player.alternate link Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

* Moshe Dayan's eulogy for Ro'i Rothberg

References

External links

* {{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1949 Gaza envelope Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1949 establishments in Israel