Netivot is a city in the Southern District of Israel located between Beersheba and Gaza. In 2022, it had a population of 46,374.
Yoav Gallant is an Israeli politician and retired military general. A member of the Knesset for Likud, he has served as Minister of Defense since 2022. He is a former commander of the Southern Command in the Israel Defense Forces. In January 2015, he entered politics, joining the new Kulanu party. After being elected to the Knesset, he was appointed Minister of Construction. At the end of 2018, he joined Likud. Gallant also previously held the posts of Minister of Aliyah and Integration and Minister of Education.
The Israeli 143rd "Fire Fox" Division also known as Gaza Division is a division subordinated to Southern Command. Its area of operation is the border with the Gaza Strip and surrounding area. The division's commander is Brigadier-General Avi Rosenfeld, who replaced Nimrod Aloni in August 2022.
Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 479. A nearby IDF military base is known by the same name.
Kfar Aza is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot around five kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Gaza, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 787.
Mefalsim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located near the Gaza Strip and covering 11,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 1,057.
Events in the year 2002 in Israel.
Giora Eiland is a retired Major General of the Israel Defense Forces and a former head of the Israeli National Security Council. After his retirement from the public sector, he was a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
Events in the year 2012 in Israel.
Herzl "Herzi" Halevi is the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken the oath of office on 16 January 2023.
Eliezer Toledano is an Israeli Aluf who served as the commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, the Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, the commander of the Gaza Division and of the Southern Command. Currently, he heads the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
On 7 October 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 War. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, while in Israel they are referred to as Black Saturday or the Simchat Torah Massacre, and internationally as the 7 October attack. The attacks consequently started the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.
Ofir Libstein was an Israeli politician. He served as head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council from 2018 to 2023. Libstein was killed on the first day of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, during the Kfar Aza massacre.
Yonatan Steinberg was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with the rank of colonel, who served as the commander of the 933rd "Nahal" Brigade. He had previously served as the commander of the Center for Tactical Training in the IDF, the commander of the Binyamin Brigade, the Assistant Brigade Commander (Operations) of the Steel Formation, and the commander of Battalion 931. He was killed by members of Hamas in a surprise attack on Israel in October 2023.
On 7 October 2023, around 70 Hamas militants attacked Kfar Aza, a kibbutz about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from the border with the Gaza Strip, massacring residents and abducting several hostages.
The Nahal Oz attack was an assault on the kibbutz of Nahal Oz and the adjacent military base near the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October 2023 as part of a 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. In the attack, more than 60 Israeli soldiers and more than a dozen kibbutz residents were killed. Some soldiers and residents were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.
Roee Edan or Roy Edan was an Israeli photojournalist working for Ynet and YediothAhronoth who died during the Kfar Aza massacre.
Yahav Winner was an Israeli filmmaker, actor, producer and cinematographer. He was killed in the Kfar Aza massacre during the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Asaf Hamami was an IDF officer with the rank of colonel, serving as the commander of the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Strip. Prior to that, he served as the commander of the Negev Brigade, commander of the Oz Brigade training school, and commander of the Tzabar Battalion.
