Sde Yoav (, ''lit.'' Yoav's Field) 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 southcentral

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 the cities of

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat () also spelled Qiryat Gat, is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and west southwest of Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most advanced semicondu ...

Kiryat Malakhi Kiryat Malakhi () also spelled Kiryat Malahi, Kiryat Malachi, or Qiryat Mal'akhi, is a city in the Southern District of Israel, northeast of Ashkelon. In it had a population of . Its jurisdiction is 4,632 dunams (~4.6 km2). History Q ...

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 ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Yoav Regional Council Yoav Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Yoav'') is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel. It is located near the cities of Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon. It was founded in 1952, covering an area of 230,000 dunams (23 ...

. In it had a population of .

History

Kibbutz Sde Yoav was established in 1966 by members of

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 ...

. It was founded on the land of the depopulated

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 ...

village of

Iraq Suwaydan 'Iraq Suwaydan (, ) was a Palestinian Arab village located northeast of Gaza City. It was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav against the defending Egyptian Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The village infrastructure, with the ex ...

. After drilling in the 1950s in the hopes of finding oil, the boreholes were covered for 30 years until developers realized their potential as a source of sulfur-rich mineral baths. In the 1980s, the kibbutz opened a spa, Hamei Yoav. According to the Ashkelon district archaeologist of the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...

, a Byzantine winepress unearthed at Hamei Yoav, as well as three similar presses found nearby, were located along the ancient road from Beit Guvrin to the port in ancient

. From here, it is believed the wine was exported to Europe and North Africa.

References

{{Authority control Kibbutzim Kibbutz Movement Populated places established in 1956 Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1956 establishments in Israel