Magen, Israel

Magen
מָגֵן‎
Magen is located in Northwest Negev region of Israel
Magen
Magen
Magen is located in Israel
Magen
Magen
Coordinates: 31°17′59″N 34°25′37″E / 31.29972°N 34.42694°E / 31.29972; 34.42694
CountryIsrael
DistrictSouthern
CouncilEshkol
AffiliationKibbutz Movement
Founded16 August 1949
Founded byRomanian Jews
Population
 (2022)[1]
540
Websitewww.magen.org.il

Magen (Hebrew: מָגֵן, lit. 'Shield') is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert and covering 8,500 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 540.[1]

History

Kibbutz Magen in 1949
Tomb of Sheikh Nuran

During World War I British forces established an air base at the village site after the withdrawal of the Turks.[2] The kibbutz was established by immigrants from Romania on 16 August 1949 on orchards that had belonged to the depopulated Palestinian hamlets of Ma'in Abu Sitta, Abu Tailakh and Abu Nuqeira, whose inhabitants had been driven out during Operation Assaf and forced to flee to the Gaza Strip. The area containing the villages was to be included as part of the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine but was under Israeli control at the end of the war, with the government forbidding the Palestinian residents from returning.[3][4] The site also contains the remains of the maqam of Sheikh Nuran, either the site of the biblical town of Bethul (Joshua 19:4)[5][6] or the site of a fourth-century Byzantine monastery.[7]

During the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Magen was one of the Israeli villages attacked, but its civil defense team fought off the attackers.[8] Israeli forces counterattacked with tanks the following day, successfully eliminating the remaining Hamas assailants in the vicinity of the kibbutz.[9]

The swimming pool at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, at which the Israeli 4×100 meters medley relay squad made the finals, was heated by solar panels manufactured by the kibbutz.[10]

Archaeology

A church complex consisting of four buildings was discovered at kibbutz Magen which sheds light on features of church construction during the Byzantine period.[11][12] It was a basilica dedicated to St. Elias.[12] Mosaics, inscriptions, glass, pottery and several coins were unearthed in these excavations.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ John D. Grainger (2006). The Battle for Palestine, 1917. The Boydell Press. pp. 102, 154–155.
  3. ^ "Israel must respect rights of return for Palestinians". Amnesty International. 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  4. ^ "Real Names of Stolen Villages, Illegal Settlements of the Gaza Perimeter". Institute for Palestine Studies. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  5. ^ Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land. (3rd edition 1993) Jerusalem, Carta, p.307, ISBN 965-220-186-3
  6. ^ Immanuel Hareuveni (1989). Israel Guide. Vol. 1. Sefrit Ma'ariv. p. 346.
  7. ^ Alois Musil, Arabia Petraea, 3 vols. [German] (Vienna: Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1908), 2:226, vol. 2, part 1.
  8. ^ "How one Kibbutz in Israel fought off Hamas: report". The Sunday Times. 15 October 2023.
  9. ^ Fabian, Emanuel. "Heavy gun battle, tank fire reported in Magen community near Gaza border". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  10. ^ Kibbutz Magen
  11. ^ a b An Early Christian Church Complex at Magen
  12. ^ a b c "XXXVI. Kissufim", Volume 3 South Coast: 2161-2648, De Gruyter, p. 542, 2014-07-14, doi:10.1515/9783110337679.541, ISBN 978-3-11-033767-9, retrieved 2024-02-25