Aluma (Hebrew: אֲלֻמָּה or אלומה‎, lit. Sheaf) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the southern coastal plain around three kilometers north-west of Kiryat Gat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 1,340.[1]

Aluma
אֲלֻמָּה
ألوما
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • officialAlumma
Aluma is located in Ashkelon region of Israel
Aluma
Aluma
Coordinates: 31°39′5″N 34°44′37″E / 31.65139°N 34.74361°E / 31.65139; 34.74361
CountryIsrael
CouncilShafir
Founded1965
Founded byAgudat Yisrael members
Population
 (2022)[1]
1,340

History

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Byzantine mosaic floor in Aluma

The village was established in 1965 as a youth village named Hazon Yehezkel by a group called Mosadot Hinukh Ezuri (lit. Institute for Regional Education), made up of young members of Agudat Yisrael. It was built on the ruins of the depopulated Palestinian village of Hatta.[2] In 1996 the Ministry of Interior granted the village municipal council status and renamed it Aluma. In 2014, the Israel Antiquities Authority uncovered a Byzantine-era church with a magnificent mosaic floor. The church was discovered during a salvage dig prior to the construction of a new neighborhood on the moshav.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 101. ISBN 0-88728-224-5. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
  3. ^ Byzantine-era church uncovered in southern Israel, Haaretz