Zar'it
Zar'it זַרְעִית | |
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  Zar'it  Zar'it | |
| Coordinates: 33°6′0″N 35°17′19″E / 33.10000°N 35.28861°E | |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Northern |
| Council | Ma'ale Yosef |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Founded by | Galilee moshavniks |
| Population (2022)[1] | 237 |
Zar'it (Hebrew: זַרְעִית) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 237.[1]
History
Zar'it is located on the land of the depopulated Palestinian villages of Al-Nabi Rubin, Suruh and Tarbikha.[2]
The moshav was established in 1967 by young people with a moshav background from the Galilee as part of Operation Sof Sof, designed to strengthen Jewish presence in the Galilee. It was initially named Kfar Rosenwald (Rosenwald Village) after American philanthropist William Rosenwald. However, the foreign-sounding name of the village didn't sit well with its residents, so as a compromise, Yehuda Ziv, the head of community naming suggested an acronym incorporating Rosenwald's name within a Hebrew word, Zar'it (Zekher Rosenwald Imanu Yisha'er Tamid, lit. Rosenwald's memory will be with us always).[3]
The village was the site of Hezbollah's initial attack in the 2006 Lebanon War, and was the target of several rocket attacks.[4]
2023 Israel–Hamas war
During the 2023 war between Hamas and Israel, northern Israeli border communities, including Zar'it, faced targeted attacks by Hezbollah and Palestinian factions based in Lebanon, and were evacuated.[5] In October 2024, the IDF said they uncovered and destroyed an active Hezbollah tunnel that originated near the Lebanese town Marwahin and emerged in Zar'it. The tunnel extended 10 metres into the Israeli border, according to the IDF report.[6]
References
- ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. pp. 27, 32, 34. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- ^ Moshav Zar'it, Western Galilee Galilee Development Authority
- ^ Seven soldiers dead - Israel retaliates Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July 2006
- ^ IDF to evacuate civilians from 28 communities along Lebanese border amid attacks
- ^ Hezbollah tunnel into northern Israel located and destroyed, says IDF Sky News, 08 October, 2024
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