Na'ura

Na'ura lies north of the Jezreel Valley and east of the Hill of Moreh, in the Gilboa region of northern Israel.[1] The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics lists the village as locality code 0524 and gives it a central grid reference of 2369997244.[2]

The name al-Nāʿūra has been proposed as a preservation of the ancient Canaanite toponym Anaharath, a city that appears in a list of settlements conquered by Pharaoh Thutmose III around 1469 BCE and that later fell within the tribal territory of Issachar.[1] The identification remains uncertain: the reference entry notes that al-Nāʿūra lacks suitable archaeological remains to confirm the connection. A nearby site, Tell al-ʿAjjūl, has also been proposed but likewise lacks suitable remains.[1]

A Mako PDF dated May 6, 2020, listed Na'ura with an estimated population of 2,277. The document attributed its area and population figures to Points Business Mapping, so the number represents a dated dataset rather than a current official count.[3] For historical comparison, a June 1948 Intelligence Service report listed Na'ura's population as approximately 250 under "Village populations during normal times" and cautioned that its statistical figures had an estimated margin of error of 10–15%.[5]

Na'ura figured prominently in the aftermath of the September 5, 2021 escape by six Palestinian terrorists from Gilboa Prison, located roughly seven kilometers away.[6][4] The six reached Na'ura on foot in the early morning hours. Security-camera footage showed them entering a local mosque, which was identified as the last location where all six were together before they separated into pairs.[4]

Accounts of their movements in Na'ura differ slightly. Israel Hayom reported that the men asked residents for a ride to Jenin but were refused, and that they spent less than an hour in the mosque, where they showered and changed clothes.[6] A Times of Israel account said that the group had been trying to reach Tamra but arrived in Na'ura by mistake. It reported that they entered the mosque around 5 a.m., changed clothes, prayed and left, and that nobody agreed to drive them to Umm al-Fahm.[7] All six were eventually recaptured.[4]

In 2024, gunfire was directed overnight at a house and a vehicle in Na'ura, causing substantial property damage but no injuries. Village residents pursued and caught the shooters before summoning the police.[8] Separately, in June 2024, air-raid sirens sounded in the area after the IDF intercepted a suspicious aerial target approaching from the direction of Iraq. The alert concerned the possibility of debris falling from the interceptor rather than a direct strike on the village.[9]