Eshkol Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית אשכול, ''Mo'atza Ezorit Eshkol'') is a regional council in the north-western

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

, in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's Southern District. The regional council's territory lies midway between

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...

and

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

, bounded on the west by the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

while the eastern border abuts the territory of the

Bnei Shimon Regional Council The Bnei Shimon Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בני שמעון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bnei Shim'on'', ''lit.'' Regional Council 'Sons of Shimon'), is a regional council in the northern Negev in the south of Israel. Most of its terri ...

. Due to its proximity to the Gaza Strip, the region has experienced numerous sporadic waves of violence, primarily as a result of rocket attacks, mortar strikes, and fires caused by incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza Strip. These waves of violence often result in widespread damage to farms and structures within the region.

Transport

Eshkol Regional Council is linked to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

by bus routes 379 (local) and route 479 (express), to

Be'er Sheva Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

by bus route 35, to

by bus route 36 and to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

by bus 495. Inside the regional council's territory there are six bus routes linking the

kibbutzim A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming ha ...

and the

moshavim A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms settler, pioneered by the Labor Zionism, Labour ...

to the regional council offices. All bus routes are operated by

Dan BaDarom Dan BaDarom ( he, דן בדרום) is an Israeli bus company, which provides bus routes in the Northern Negev. The company is a subsidiary of Dan Bus Company. In 2015, Dan Bus Company established the subsidiary Dan BaDarom to compete on tenders ...

Security

The Eshkol region has been the target of thousands of rocket attacks since 2000. Despite

Iron Dome Iron Dome ( he, כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, Kippat Barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short- ...

coverage in the region, usage of the system is generally limited to populated areas and allows other rockets to land in open areas. As a result, there has been widespread damage to farms, vehicles and various outlying structures. During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, farmers reported massive damages to their crops due to rockets landing in open fields. On 26 August 2014 a mortar shell fired from Gaza was reported to have killed one person and seriously wounded two others at the Eshkol Regional Council. Since 2016, the region has experienced waves of fires caused by incendiary balloons released from Gaza. The fires have caused widespread damage to farms and local infrastructure. More than 100 fires were reported in June 2019 alone, with reported damage to at least 4,500 acres of farmland. This tactic by

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

and other militant groups in Gaza is considered to be a form of

agro-terrorism Agroterrorism, also known as agriterrorism and agricultural terrorism, is a malicious attempt to disrupt or destroy the agricultural industry and/or food supply system of a population through "the malicious use of plant or animal pathogens to cause ...

Villages

Kibbutzim

Be'eri Be'eri ( he, בְּאֵרִי) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert near the border with the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Kib ...

Alumim Alumim ( he, עֲלוּמִים, lit=Youth) is a kibbutz located in the northwestern Negev desert in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip. It falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Kibb ...

Ein HaShlosha Ein HaShlosha ( he, עין השלושה, lit. 'Spring of the Three') is a kibbutz in the western Negev desert in Israel. It falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. History The kibbutz was named in memory of three of the foundin ...

Gvulot Gvulot ( he, גְּבוּלוֹת, ''lit.'' "Borders") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . Gvulot is located about 12 ...

* Magen * Nir Oz * Nir Yitzhak *

Nirim Nirim ( he, נִירִים, ''lit.'' Meadows) is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev in Israel. Located near the border with the Gaza Strip, about 7 kilometers east of Khan Yunis, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it ...

Holit Holit ( he, חוֹלִית, ''lit.'' Dune) is a kibbutz in the Hevel Shalom region of south-west Israel. Located near Nir Yitzhak, the kibbutz is under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kib ...

Kerem Shalom Kerem Shalom ( he, כֶּרֶם שָׁלוֹם, ''lit.'' Vineyard of Peace) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located on the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . Hi ...

Kissufim Kissufim ( he, כִּסּוּפִים, ''lit.'' Yearning) is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev desert in Israel. Located adjacent to the Gaza Strip at an altitude of 92 meters above sea level, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional C ...

Re'im Re'im ( he, רֵעִים, lit. ''Friends'') is a secular kibbutz in southern Israel, and one of the Gaza Strip, Gaza vicinity villages. Located at the confluence of Besor, Besor Stream and Nahal Gerar, Gerar Stream in the north-western Negev deser ...

* Sufa *

Tze'elim Tze'elim ( he, צֶאֱלִים) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . A military training base of the ground forces of the IDF (ofte ...

* Urim

Moshavim

* Amioz *

Ein HaBesor Ein HaBesor ( he, עֵין הַבְּשׂוֹר, , Spring of the Besor) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Hevel Eshkol area of the north-western Negev desert near the border with the Gaza Strip and around a kilometre from Magen, it ...

Dekel Dekel ( he, דֶּקֶל, ''lit.'' Palm tree), officially Dekel-Kfar Shitufi ( he, דקל-כפר שיתופי, lit. ''Dekel - Co-operative Village'') is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev des ...

* Mivtahim * Naveh * Ohad *

Peri Gan Pri Gan ( he, פְּרִי גַּן, , Fruit Garden), also known as Prigan, is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had ...

Sde Nitzan Sde Nitzan ( he, שְׂדֵה נִצָּן, ''lit.'' Field of (Flower) Buds) is a moshav in the northern Negev desert in Israel. Located twelve kilometres east of Kerem Shalom and near Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regiona ...

* Sdei Avraham * Talmei Eliyahu * Talmei Yosef * Yated *

Yesha Yesha ( he, יש"ע) is a Hebrew acronym for " Judea, Samaria, Gaza" (, "Yehuda Shomron 'Azza") – a geographical area, roughly corresponding to the West Bank and Gaza Strip combined. ''Yesha'' is one of a number of terms used to describe the ...

Yevul Yevul ( he, יְבוּל, ''lit.'' Crop) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev desert near the Gaza Strip–Egypt border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council Eshkol Regi ...

Other locations

* Avshalom *

Tzohar Tzohar ( he, צֹחַר) is a community settlement and regional center in southern Israel. Located in Hevel Eshkol, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The settlement was founded in 19 ...

Shlomit Shlomit ( he, שלומית) is a village in southern Israel. Located in the Negev desert, around 700 meters from the Egyptian border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council Eshkol Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 31, 22, 27, N, 34, 23, 58, E, display=title, type:city(8300)_source:cawiki 1951 establishments in Israel Commemoration of Levi Eshkol Regional councils in Israel