The Nitzanim Sand Dune Nature Reserve is a 21,600

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

area within the area between

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

and

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

on the Southern Coastal Plain of the Israeli Mediterranean Sea coast."Nitzanim Nature Reserve"
/ref>"Nitzanim Sands Reserve"
Ashdod Travellers Guide at the Ashdod municipal website It was declared as a public area in early 1980s by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and designated as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

on June 2, 2005. The Reserve includes a small settlement of

Nitzan Nitzan (, lit. ''Flower bud'') is a religiously observant community settlement in southern Israel. Located within the Nitzanim Sand Dune Reserve north of Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a ...

located in place of the

Nitzanim Nitzanim () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Nitzanim was established on 8 Decem ...

kibbutz, which was resettled some 3-4 km to the south. The reserve is split in two parts by the Nahal Evtah (Evtach, Avtah) ()

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

(Wadi el Ibtah) which leads to the Nitzanim Beach by the sea. The beach is a public area not part of the Reserve. The area south of the stream is designated for the IDF recruit training base (Camp Yehoshua) and is closed to public. The northern part is open to public all year round free of charge. In 2005, during 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 ...

there was a controversial plan to resettle some

Israeli settlers Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

from

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 ...

to the Nitzanim Dunes area. (BBC)
/ref>

References

{{Nature reserves of Israel Protected areas of Central District (Israel) Nature reserves in Israel Coasts of the Mediterranean Sea Dunes of Israel

See also

References