{{Short description|Kibbutz in southern Israel}} {{Infobox Kibbutz | name = Karmia | hebname = כרמיה | image = קיבוץ כרמיה, מ.א חוף אשקלון.JPG | foundation = 20 May 1950 | founded_by = French and Tunisian [[Hashomer Hatzair]] members | district = south | council = [[Hof Ashkelon Regional Council|Hof Ashkelon]] | affiliation = [[Kibbutz Movement]] | popyear = {{Israel populations|Year}} | population = {{Israel populations|Karmiyya}}{{Israel populations|reference}} | population_footnotes= | pushpin_map=Israel ashkelon |pushpin_mapsize=250 | coordinates = {{coord|31|36|15|N|34|32|33|E|display=inline,title}} | website = }}
'''Karmia''' ({{langx|he|כַּרְמִיָּה}}) is a [[kibbutz]] in southern [[Israel]]. Located between [[Ashkelon]] and the [[Gaza Strip]], it falls under the jurisdiction of [[Hof Ashkelon Regional Council]]. In {{Israel populations|Year}} it had a population of {{Israel populations|Karmiyya}}.{{Israel populations|reference}} Before 1948 it was the site of an Arab village called 'Hiribya'. Its name is derived from the Hebrew for [[vineyard]] ({{Langx|he|כרם}}, ''Kerem''), which were common in the area.
==Pre-Israel History== ===Prehistory=== {{see|Nizzanim culture}}
===Bronze Age=== Settlement at the site of Karmia dates back to the [[Canaan]]ite period.<ref name="Khalidi"/>
===Crusader period=== It was known as "Forbie" to the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusaders]]. In 1226, the [[Syria (region)|Syrian]] geographer [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] called it "Firbiya" (or "Farbaya") and noted that it was within the administrative jurisdiction of [[Ascalon]].<ref name="Khalidi"/><ref>le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/440/mode/1up 440]</ref>
The village was the site of a crucial battle, called the [[Battle of La Forbie]], between the Crusaders and the [[Ayyubid]]s, which ended in a decisive [[Ayyubid]] victory. Historians consider it second in strategic significance only to the [[Battle of Hattin]] in 1187.<ref name="Khalidi"/>
A circular [[Water well|well]], made of masonry, and the foundations of a small tower{{clarify|reason=Date? Both can be from whatever period. Further down there is a quote from the ccc talking of a ruined "Crusader fortress" still visible in C19. Same?|date=October 2023}} were still found there in the late 19th century.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/251/mode/1up 251]</ref>
===Ottoman period=== Hirbiya was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1517 with the rest of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], by the 1596 [[Defter|tax records]] it was located in the ''[[nahiya]]'' (subdistrict) of Gaza, a part of the [[Liwa of Gaza]]. It had a population of 160 households and 15 bachelors, an estimated 963 person, all [[Muslim]]. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on various products, including wheat, barley, grapes, fruit, and cotton; a total of 35,500 [[akçe]]. All of the revenue went to a [[waqf]].<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 145. Cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 101</ref>
During the 17th and 18th centuries, settlement in the region declined due to [[nomad]]ic attacks on local communities. The residents of abandoned villages moved to elsewhere but the land continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2023-01-01 |title=Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalān's hinterland, 1270 – 1750 CE |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt1hr356xv/qt1hr356xv.pdf?t=s47wuf |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=82 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003|doi-access=free }}</ref>
An Ottoman village list from 1870 showed that ''Herbija'' had 58 houses and a population of 206, which included only men.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/155/mode/1up 155]</ref><ref>Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n938/mode/1up 130], also noted 58 houses</ref>
In the late 19th century Hirbiya had a rectangular layout, although some of its adobe brick houses were scattered in surrounding orchards. The village was surrounded by a pond, a well, and several gardens. To the south were remains of the Crusader fortress.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/235/mode/1up 235]-236, Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 101</ref>
===British mandate=== [[File:Hiribya 1931.jpg|thumb|Hiribya 1931 1:20,000]] [[File:Ashkelon 1945.jpg|thumb|Hiribya 1945 1:250,000]]
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], conducted by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British mandate]] authorities, ''Herbia'' had a population of 1,037 inhabitants, consisting of 1031 Muslims and 6 Orthodox Christians,<ref>Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n10/mode/1up 8]</ref><ref>Barron, 1923, Table XIII, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n46/mode/1up 44]</ref> The population had increased in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 1,520; 1,510 Muslims and 10 Christians, in 234 houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 3].</ref> Hirbiya had a mosque and elementary school, both located in the village center. The school opened in 1922 and had an enrollment of 124 students in the 1940s.<ref name="Khalidi"/>
In [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945]] Hiribya had a population of 2,300; 2,200 Muslims, 40 Christians and 60 Jews,<ref name=DoS1945p31/> with a total of 22,312 [[dunam]]s of land, according to an official land and population survey.<ref name=Hadawi45/> Of this, 2,765 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 6,106 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 2,037 for cereals,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-087.jpg 87]</ref> while 92 dunams were built-up land.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-137.jpg 137]</ref>
== Israeli History == Hirbiya was targeted in October 1948 during [[Operation Yoav]], coming under aerial bombardment on October 15–16. A planned attack was called off when Israeli forces learned that a large [[Egyptian Army]] force was quartered in the village. Khalidi speculates that the village fell to Israeli forces in early November, shortly after the occupation of Ashkalon.<ref name="Khalidi102" />
Following the war the area was incorporated into the [[State of Israel]] According to Khalidi, only the mosque, which was used as a warehouse, and one residential building, remain from earlier times.<ref name="Khalidi102" />
The kibbutz was established on 20 May 1950 by a [[Nahal]] [[gar'in]] of [[Hashomer Hatzair]] members from [[France]] and [[Tunisia]] who had been trained in [[Beit Zera]], including Gad Partok, a Holocaust survivor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-01 |title=שורד השואה הדליק משואה וקרא: "להחזרת 59 החטופים" {{!}} ישראל היום |url=https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/local/article/17809961 |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=www.israelhayom.co.il}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ|first1=Walid|last1=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=[[Washington D.C.]]|publisher=[[Institute for Palestine Studies]]|ISBN=0-88728-224-5|page=102}}</ref>
The kibbutz absorbed 54 families from the [[Elei Sinai]] and [[Nisanit]] Israeli settlements, which were evacuated as part of the [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan|disengagement plan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel/evacuees-first-we-were-expelled-now-were-abandoned|title=Evacuees: First we were expelled, now we're abandoned|website=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=8 February 2006}}</ref> Since 2006 it has been repeatedly hit by [[Qassam rocket]]s fired from the Gaza Strip, including one that landed on its football pitch, and another Qassam rocket that landed inside a house and injured 3 people severely in 2005.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}
In 2019 it was temporarily evacuated due to forest fires. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Magid |first=Jacob |last2=Staff |first2=ToI |date=2019-05-23 |title=Netanyahu asks for international help as huge fires force evacuation of 3,500 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-calls-for-international-help-as-huge-fires-force-evacuation-of-3500/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |work=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>
=== October 7th and Iron Swords War === {{See also|Zikim attack}} On October 7th, the kibbutz was defended by IDF soldiers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kraus |first=Yair |date=2025-09-09 |title='Grief doesn't exempt from defending Israel': Father, son serve on Lebanon border after twin brother fell on Oct. 7 |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/byjckvt9xx |access-date=2025-10-30 |work=Ynetglobal |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Segaloff |first=Judith |date=2024-04-15 |title=‘Until the hostages come home, I feel I have no right to' |url=https://www.jns.org/until-the-hostages-come-home-i-feel-i-have-no-right-to/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The area was attacked again two days later.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fabian |first=Emanuel |date=2023-10-09 |title=Troops battling terrorists near Karmia on Gaza border |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/troops-battling-terrorists-near-karmia-on-gaza-border/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |work=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>
The kibbutz was evacuated following the [[October 7 attacks]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=» IDF Evacuating Civilians From Gaza Border Region |url=https://tps.co.il/articles/idf-evacuating-civilians-from-gaza-border-region/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |language=en-US}}</ref> although some residents refused to leave.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moran |first=Meirav |date=December 22, 2023 |title='Leaving Is Giving in to Hamas': The Old-timers Who Stayed on the Kibbutz After October 7 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-22/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/leaving-is-giving-in-to-hamas-the-old-timers-who-stayed-on-the-kibbutz-after-october-7/0000018c-926e-da81-a1bc-defee55d0000 |url-status=live |archive-date=December 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231223114438/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-22/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/leaving-is-giving-in-to-hamas-the-old-timers-who-stayed-on-the-kibbutz-after-october-7/0000018c-926e-da81-a1bc-defee55d0000#selection-1599.281-1626.0}}</ref> Most of the evacuees were housed at Kibbutz [[Nahsholim]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-14 |title=How are the people of Jerusalem helping Israel's war effort? |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-768100 |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en |issn=0792-822X }}</ref> near Tel Aviv.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fuld |first=Shanna |date=2024-01-22 |title=Kibbutz Re’im Survivors Find New Home in Tel Aviv |url=https://israeldailynews.org/kibbutz-reim-survivors-find-new-home-in-tel-aviv/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=Israel Daily News |language=en}}</ref> It was supposed to reopen in July of 2024, but most community members didn't agree to return.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-30 |title="פגיעה בתחושת הביטחון": בקיבוץ העוטף מתנגדים נחרצות להחלטת הממשלה |url=https://www.maariv.co.il/news/israel/article-1103236 |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=www.maariv.co.il |language=he}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shomrim - All But Five of the Israeli Communities on the Gaza Border to Remain Empty for Now |url=https://www.shomrim.news/eng/gaza-border-to-remain-empty |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=www.shomrim.news}}</ref>
== Economy == In 1972 a blanket factory was established in the kibbutz.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}
Karmia is home to solar energy startup EDI Energy,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Danielle Biton |url=https://forbes.co.il/e/rankings/2024-under-30/danielle-biton/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=Forbes Israel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Sara |date=2023-07-16 |title=Startup Rents Roofs For Solar Panels, Sells Owners Cheap Power |url=https://nocamels.com/2023/07/startup-rents-roofs-for-solar-panels-sells-owners-cheap-power/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=NoCamels |language=en-US}}</ref> and Ortech, which refurbishes bomb shelters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-21 |title=מנכ"ל חברת המיגון: "המדינה לא בשלה להכיל טכנולוגיות מיגון מתקדמות" |url=https://www.maariv.co.il/news/israel/article-1207087 |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=www.maariv.co.il |language=he}}</ref> The drone company CopterPIX was founded there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-21 |title=Here’s how CopterPIX relocated north with the help of the IDF |url=https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1rtd4ept |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=ctech |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Hof Ashkelon Regional Council}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Kibbutzim]] [[Category:Kibbutz Movement]] [[Category:Nahal settlements]] [[Category:Populated places established in 1950]] [[Category:Gaza envelope]] [[Category:Populated places in Southern District (Israel)]] [[Category:1950 establishments in Israel]] [[Category:French-Jewish culture in Israel]] [[Category:Tunisian-Jewish culture in Israel]]