Netiv HaAsara colony

Netiv HaAsara is an Israeli settlement located in the southern occupied territories, specifically in the northwest Negev, on the northern border with the Gaza Strip. According to the 2021 general census, the settler population was approximately 900. The moshav was established in 1982 by 70 families from the former Israeli settlement of Netiv HaAsara in the Sinai Peninsula, which was evacuated as a result of the Camp David Accords. The original moshav was named after ten soldiers killed in a helicopter crash south of Rafah in 1971 and was initially called “Minyan.” Following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Netiv HaAsara became the closest residential community to the Gaza Strip, located about 400 meters from the edge of the Palestinian town of Beit Lahia. On the southern edge, a parking lot was converted into a base for Israeli occupation forces, and tanks were deployed. An electric fence was constructed to prevent infiltration attempts from Gaza, along with three concrete walls built as protection against potential Palestinian snipers. In 2007, Popular Resistance Committees sent two militants to infiltrate the moshav, but they were killed by Israeli occupation forces. On August 25, 2007, Palestinian fighters from the Popular Resistance Committees and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attempted to enter Netiv HaAsara from Gaza using a ladder to scale the border fence, but two fighters were killed by Israeli forces. On October 7, 2023, as part of the Hamas and resistance factions’ attack on the settlements surrounding Gaza, at least 20 settlers of the moshav were killed by Palestinian fighters. In 2022, the settler population was approximately 948. Sources: Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used, including:

• The official Hebrew website of the settlement

• The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics