Route 899 (Israel)

Route 899 runs east–west across the Upper Galilee near Israel's boundary with Lebanon.[1] At its eastern end it meets Route 90 at Koach Junction near Metzudat Koach and continues westward toward the vicinity of Rosh HaNikra, roughly ten kilometers beyond Kibbutz Hanita.[2] One description gives the road's length as a little over 60 kilometers,[3] while another places it at 63 kilometers.[2]

Sources use different scopes for the route. Mako describes it as extending from Metzudat Koach to near Rosh HaNikra.[2] A ynet feature places its ends at Batzet Junction and the Hula Valley,[3] while another describes Route 899 as running between Ramat Naftali and the Sasa area.[4] From the surrounding landscape, Mount Meron—the highest peak in the Galilee—and Mount Adir, which overlooks much of southern Lebanon, are visible.[1]

In a narrower description, a 2026 report characterized Route 899 as near the Israel–Lebanon border rather than a border road proper, noting that it passes the Christian village of Fassuta and ends near Sasa, where it intersects Route 89.[1]

The original Northern Road along this corridor was constructed during the British Mandate period and was narrow and considered very dangerous.[3] Sections of the old road remain visible alongside the wider present-day highway.[3] Travel directions distinguish the old Northern Road from a newer bypass, including west of Camp Birnit, where motorists return to Route 899 toward Zar'it and Shtula.[5] The route's alignment changed following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in a context of security and political considerations.[6]

The road passes sites that carry weight in Israel's military history. Metzudat Koach, at the eastern junction with Route 90, is named for the 28 fighters who fell capturing it during the 1948 War of Independence; among them was David Cherkassky—known as Dudu—who was commemorated in a well-known Palmach song.[5] The site overlooks the Kadesh Valley, with the Lebanese village of Blida visible nearby.[5] Near Avivim, the road passes a Tegart fortress and a memorial to the victims of the May 22, 1970 terrorist attack in which terrorists struck a school bus, killing eight students, three escorts, and the bus driver.[5]

A parking area along the route near Zar'it and Shtula is named NUI, commemorating Captains Nir Zahavi and Yiftach Ein, who were killed in a 1978 combined naval commando and paratroop raid on Lebanon.[5] Near the Goren industrial zone, a restored British-era pillbox stands as a landmark, restored through the personal initiative of a local resident; above nearby Moshav Ya'ara stands the fifth police fortress built by the British on the northern border.[5]

Communities along and near the corridor reflect the Upper Galilee's varied population. Stops highlighted in travel coverage include Arab al-Aramshe, a Bedouin village near the Lebanon border; Shtula, a moshav populated by families of Kurdish origin; the Maronite heritage site at Bir'am; and Kibbutz Hanita.[2] Farther east, Route 899 passes Fassuta, described as a large Christian village, before reaching the Sasa area.[1]

The corridor links tourism and cultural attractions that include heritage museums, national parks, viewpoints, village hospitality, Kurdish cuisine, public art, an artisan glass workshop, agricultural sites, and forest recreation. Highlighted stops include Metzudat Koach, Tel Kedesh, Arab al-Aramshe, Shtula, the Talking Walls project, Kibbutz Hanita, and Hanita Forest.[2]

The road also provides access to Hurvat Dan’ila in the western Galilee, a site set within a natural oak forest containing ruins approximately 2,000 years old, including a wall, cisterns, winding streets, and partially restored oil presses.[7] Travelers reach it from Route 899 by turning north approximately 100 meters east of Granot HaGalil at a sign for Nahal Srach.[7] Several of the route's stopping points and viewpoints commemorate terrorist attacks that occurred in the region over the decades.[3]

Traveling west from Koach Junction, Route 899 passes Tel Kedesh and the Ela parking area before meeting the old Northern Road at a turn signposted for Camp Tormos.[5] A former British-period quarantine building near that junction provides a viewpoint shaded by eucalyptus trees.[5] Farther west, after Camp Birnit, the route rejoins the newer bypass following signs for Zar'it and Shtula.[5]

The road runs near the Meron ridge, the highest in the Galilee, which reaches 1,208 meters and encompasses Mount Meron, Mount Hiram, and Mount Adir at its northern end.[2] Its eastern scenic connections include the Kadesh Valley, Tel Kedesh, Hunin Fortress, Metzudat Koach, viewpoints at Misgav Am and Menara, the Rammim Cliff and geological park, Mount Nezer, Mitzpeh Pa'ar, and the Small Canyon.[8] Farther west, highlighted sites include Tel Kedesh, Keshet Cave—a large rock arch suspended above a cliff overlooking Nahal Batzet—and Hanita Forest.[2][3]

Approaching from the east, an Israel Trail segment from Metzudat Koach descends through agricultural land, grazing fields, vineyards, and orchards before entering the Nahal Dishon nature reserve and following a shaded jeep road beside natural woodland toward a bridge over Nahal Dishon.[9]

In Shtula, near the Israel–Lebanon border, a concrete security wall built by the IDF in the years after the Second Lebanon War was decorated with street art and graffiti by artists from around the world in a project called "Talking Walls." The project covers approximately 200 meters and was carried out by Artists 4 Israel together with the Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council and Shtula residents.[2] Route 899 is regarded as one of Israel's scenic roads.[3]

Route 899's position close to the Lebanese border has made it the scene of repeated security incidents. In December 2015, the IDF placed concrete barriers along a section of the road amid preparations for a possible Hezbollah attack following the reported Israeli assassination of Samir Kuntar.[10]

On September 1, 2019, Hezbollah operatives fired three antitank missiles at an IDF military ambulance traveling on Route 899 near Avivim.[11] The ambulance was carrying five members of a local artillery battalion from the Avivim base toward other members of the battalion at Kibbutz Yiron and was nearly struck as it turned a bend and drove uphill toward the rear entrance of the kibbutz.[11] The attack followed Israeli strikes during the preceding week against Hezbollah operatives in Syria and a propellant mixer in Beirut associated with Hezbollah's precision-guided-missile program.[11] The five soldiers aboard had reportedly disregarded explicit military travel restrictions issued in anticipation of a Hezbollah retaliatory strike.[11]

Hezbollah released video showing two Kornet antitank-missile launches and named the units involved after two of its operatives killed in the Israeli airstrike in Syria. No deaths or injuries were reported.[11] UNIFIL subsequently concluded, based on technical data, that the missiles were fired from the area of two Green Without Borders locations near the Lebanese villages of Maroun al-Ras and Aitaroun. Despite repeated requests to the Lebanese Armed Forces and senior Lebanese officials, UNIFIL was not granted full access to the sites.[11]

In March 2023, YAMAM police commandos and Shin Bet operatives located a suspected terrorist on Route 899 near the Lebanese border following an infiltration from Lebanon and a bombing near Megiddo.[12][13] The suspect was found in a car with a driver and was carrying a ready-to-detonate explosive belt; additional explosives were reportedly found in the vehicle.[13] Security forces shot and killed the suspect after determining that he posed a threat, while the driver was arrested and interrogated.[12][13]