Shokeda

Shokeda is situated in the northwestern Negev, in the Gerar Region, and falls within the southwestern portion of the Sdot Negev Regional Council.[3][2] Reports place it approximately six to six-and-a-half kilometers from the Gaza Strip.[1][5] The moshav lies near Shokeda Forest and Nahal Shuva, and the surrounding landscape is used for tourism and walking, particularly during the annual Darom Adom wildflower season.[2]

A moshav is a cooperative agricultural settlement that generally combines private ownership of land with communal marketing and avoidance of hired labor, distinguishing it from the more fully communal kibbutz.[6] Shokeda is described as a national-religious moshav.[1] A historical population table identifies it as affiliated with Ha-Po'el ha-Mizrachi and lists it under the former Regional Council Azzatah.[3]

Shokeda was founded in 1957 as part of the network of agricultural communities established in the Negev.[3][2]

In December 2023, the Southern District Planning and Building Committee approved for public deposit a plan to regulate and expand Shokeda. The plan, advanced by the moshav association committee together with the Sdot Negev Regional Council and submitted before the outbreak of the war, proposes 230 additional housing units, bringing the total to 513 units if implemented.[2] Approval for public deposit allows objections to be submitted and does not constitute final approval of the plan.[2]

A historical population table recorded 187 inhabitants in Shokeda as of December 31, 2004; this figure is not a current population estimate.[3] In February 2024, The Times of Israel reported that the community comprised approximately 132 families and that about 80 percent had joined the initial large-scale return to the moshav.[1]

Shokeda's agricultural activity includes citrus orchards, other plantations, and field crops.[2] Its proximity to Shokeda Forest and Nahal Shuva also supports tourism and walking, especially during the Darom Adom season.[2] The community's proposed expansion includes about 100 guest rooms on a 15-dunam hotel site and a separate 5-dunam tourist attraction. Permitted possibilities include sports facilities, climbing walls, bicycle rental, play areas, a visitor center, and activities involving animals.[2]

A National Library of Israel catalog record lists Shokeda as the place of publication of the 2011 Hebrew book נהר האמת (River of Truth). The publisher field names “Moshav Shokeda,” and the book is cataloged as 85 pages with illustrations.[7]

Shokeda Forest is a northern Negev site near the Gaza Strip known for its winter anemones.[8] As winter ends, red anemones blossom across the forest floor alongside yellow daisies and chrysanthemums, with eucalyptus trees lining a well-traveled trail through the area.[9] The forest has been identified as the most popular area for viewing anemones during the Darom Adom festival, when red flowers dot the surrounding landscape.[4]

In March 2024, the forest was reported to have sustained wartime damage. Because much of the military activity occurred before rainfall arrived in January, flowers nevertheless continued to grow in many affected areas.[10]

Shokeda was evacuated following the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023.[2] Shokeda physician Yehudit Nachum later recounted that she was asked to establish a first-aid and triage point because people could not reach Soroka Medical Center. She said that she traveled under rocket fire and gunshots to the moshav synagogue, where supplies consisted of one stretcher, a few bandages, and some IV bags. Young people fleeing the Nova music festival subsequently arrived at the station on foot.[11]

Nachum said residents were evacuated by early Sunday morning and that everyone left safely.[11] The government provided state-arranged emergency housing, and many residents stayed at a hotel in Neve Ilan near Jerusalem.[1] The Aviker family was among those who first stayed in Sde Boker before relocating to Neve Ilan.[5] IDF troops remained stationed in Shokeda during the months of displacement.[1]

In early February 2024, approximately 80 percent of Shokeda's roughly 132 families returned to their homes, constituting what was reported as the largest single movement of people back into the Tekuma region since the October 7 evacuation.[1] The homecoming was marked by a procession, an Israeli-flag-raising ceremony, balloons, signs, and songs.[12] Residents also held a belated Tu Bishvat tree-planting ceremony, while some began mowing their overgrown lawns.[1] Moshav leader Efraim Luzon called the return “immensely joyous” while acknowledging that the war had not ended, and resident Hana Cohen Aloro told Kan: “Despite the balloons and festivities, there's fear.”[1]

A February 12 report described additional family returns and said the reopening of Sdot Negev schools was a key factor prompting residents to come back. The Aviker family said returning before the schools reopened gave them a “soft landing” after months in small hotel rooms.[5] The Buskila family also returned, with Hila Buskila saying that her children gave her the strength to make the move while the family remained concerned about the hostages still held in Gaza.[5]

At the time of the initial return, Shokeda's kindergarten was operating, its elementary school in nearby Kfar Maimon was scheduled to open the following week, and the regional high school was operating temporarily outside the Tekuma region, with bus transport planned for students.[1] Sdot Negev Regional Council head Tamir Idan characterized the return as a “victory image” against Hamas while pledging continued council support for residents.[12]

Shokeda's proximity to the Gaza Strip has exposed it to rocket fire. On May 13, 2023, shrapnel from fallen Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets wounded three people in the moshav; one later died from his wounds.[13] Two of the three casualties, including the person who died, were Palestinians from Gaza who were in Israel with work permits.[13]

The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights confirmed that some Gazans killed and wounded during that period were struck by Palestinian rockets rather than Israeli fire.[13] Hamas disputed the organization's authority to draw such conclusions and accused it of a “lack of patriotism.”[14]