Hanita

Antiquity

Kibbutz Hanita was established on the site of an ancient ruin by that same name (Hanita; variant: Hanuta), and is mentioned in rabbinic writings: Tosefta (Shevi'it 4:9), the Jerusalem Talmud (Demai 2:1) and in the 3rd-century Mosaic of Rehob.

Ottoman era

In the 1878 Palestine Exploration Fund Map published by C. R. Conder and HH Kitchener it was listed as the ruin, Khurbet Hanuta.

British Mandate

Kibbutz Hanita was established on 21 March 1938, as part of the Tower and stockade operation during the 1936–39 Arab revolt. However, Hanita was a special project, the largest of the entire operation and led directly by Yitzhak Sadeh, a top military leader of the Yishuv (Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine). Unlike other Tower and stockade settlements, Hanita was not established out of another nearby settlement, where all building material would be stored in advance, as was the rule. The lack of Jewish settlements in Western Galilee and the site's extremely remote location precluded that option. Four-hundred people contributed in the erection of the first walled camp, many notrim (Jewish Mandatory police) included. There were no roads leading to the site and materials had to be carried by hand under armed protection. Due to the 1937 Peel Commission report, the Yishuv leadership under David Ben-Gurion thought the partition of Palestine to be imminent, with the borders to be decided through diplomacy, and with no Jewish foothold the Western Galilee would remain out of bounds. Hanita was one of the new Jewish settlements established in the area, with an additional defensive role, as it sat directly on the border with Lebanon, which was at the time controlled by France. The establishment of Hanita was hailed as the most impressive action of the Tower and stockade operation, it was in part captured on film, and became the subject of an opera.^[2][3][4]

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  Hanita 1938
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  Hanita 1938
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  Hanita 1938
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  Hanita, inside the wall, June 1938
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  Members of Yiftach Brigade, "D" Company, assembling at Hanita. 1948
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  Chaim Weizmann visiting Hanita

2023 Israel–Hamas war

During the 2023 war between Hamas and Israel, northern Israeli border communities, including Hanita, faced targeted attacks by Hezbollah and Palestinian factions based in Lebanon, and were evacuated.^[5]