{{Short description|Wadi in southern Israel and Palestine}} {{use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox river | name = Wadi Gaza / Besor Stream | name_other = {{lang|ar|وادي غزة}} / {{lang|he|נחל הבשור}} | image = GesherTzeelim.jpg | image_caption = Besor Stream | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | source1_location = [[Negev]] | source1_coordinates = {{coord|30.8129|N|34.7276|E|format=dms|region:IL_type:river|display=inline}} | mouth_location = [[Mediterranean Sea]] | mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|31|27|50|N|34|22|33|E|region:PS_type:river|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [[Israel]], [[Palestine]] | length = | source1_elevation = | discharge1_avg = | basin_size = | extra = }} [[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Flooding in the Negev (1).jpg|thumb|Flooding in the Negev by the Besor stream]]
'''Wadi Gaza''' ({{langx|ar|وادي غزة||translit=Wadi Ghazza}}) and '''Besor Stream''' ({{langx|he|נחל הבשור|translit=Nahal HaBesor}}, {{langx|grc|Ἀβεσσά|translit=Habessá}}) are parts of a [[river system]] in the [[Gaza Strip]] in [[Palestine]] and the [[Negev]] region of [[Israel]]. Wadi Gaza is a [[wadi]] (river valley) that divides the northern and southern ends of the Gaza Strip, whose major [[tributary]] is Besor Stream.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - KKL-JNF - Nahal HaBesor Scenic Road |url=http://https//www.kkl-jnf.org%2ftourism-and-recreation%2fforests-and-parks%2fbesor_stream%2f |access-date=2026-04-10 |website=https |language=en}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Yeruham Lake 2.JPG|thumb|[[Yeruham]] Reservoir]] Nahal Besor has shown evidence of [[epipaleolithic]] sites above [[paleolithic]] sediments.<ref name="Levy1998">{{cite book |author=Thomas E. Levy |title=The archaeology of society in the Holy Land |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-etsKv-4V2oC&pg=PA46 |access-date=2 May 2011 |date=1 November 1998 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8264-6996-0 |pages=46–}}</ref> Finds of pottery and flints were studied by Ann Roshwalb who found evidence of both [[Egypt]]ian and late [[Neolithic]] occupations.<ref name="LevyAlon1987">{{cite book |author1=Thomas Evan Levy |author2=David Alon |title=Shiqmim I: Text |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkZmAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2011-05-02 |year=1987 |publisher=B.A.R. |isbn=978-0-86054-460-9}}</ref> Archaeologists [[Pierre de Miroschedji]] and [[Moain Sadeq]] suggest that in the late 4th millennium BCE, Egypt's expansion into the southern Levant consisted of a core of permanent settlement with areas of seasonal habitation and Egyptian influence where ancient Egyptians and Canaanites interacted.<ref>{{citation |last1=de Miroschedji |first1=Pierre |last2=Sadeq |first2=Moain |chapter=The frontier of Egypt in the Early Bronze Age: preliminary soundings at Tell es-Sakan (Gaza Strip) |title=Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean |year=2005 |editor-first=Joanne |editor-last=Clarke |publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant |pages=163–165 |jstor=j.ctv310vqks.24 |isbn=978-1-84217-168-4 |jstor-access=free |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv310vqks.24}}</ref> The permanent core was focused around the wadi, encompassing the settlements at [[Tell es-Sakan]] (likely an administrative centre) and [[Ein HaBesor#Early Bronze Age|En Besor]].<ref>{{citation |last=de Miroschedji |first=Pierre |title=Les relations entre l'Égypte et le levant aux IVe et IIIe millénaires à la lumière des fouilles de Tell Es-Sakan |language=French |year=2015 |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |volume=159 |issue=2 |pages=1020–1021 |doi=10.3406/CRAI.2015.94831 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
In the [[Old Testament]], Besor was a ravine or brook in the extreme south-west of Judah, where 200 of [[David]]'s men stayed behind because they were faint, while the other 400 pursued the [[Amalekites]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Samuel|30:9-10}}, {{bibleverse-nb|1|Samuel|30:21}}.</ref><ref name="ariel" />
Around the year 390, a group of monks from [[Scetis]] around [[Silvanus of Gaza|Silvanus]] settled in several [[lavra|hermit cells]] along the watercourse. The community would only gather on Saturdays and Sundays for communal prayer and meals, doing various manual works and prayer during the week.<ref name="BittonKofsky">{{cite book |last1=Bitton-Ashkelony |first1=Brouria |last2=Kofsky |first2=Aryeh |title=The Monastic School of Gaza |date=February 2006 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789047408444 |pages=17–18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOx5DwAAQBAJ |access-date=12 November 2023}}</ref> In 520, the so-called [[monastery of Seridus]] was founded a bit further south where the famous hermits [[Barsanuphius]] and [[John the Prophet]] lived.<ref name="KofskyBitton">{{cite book |last1=Kofsky |first1=Arieh |last2=Bitton-Ashkelony |first2=Bruria |title=Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity |date=2004 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004138681 |pages=76–77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lA9VwVwoyiAC |access-date=12 November 2023}}</ref>
During the [[Ottoman period]], the area was inhabited by the [[Bedouin]] [[tribe]] of '''<nowiki/>'Arab al-Jubarat''' (عرب الجبارات).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Marom |date=2025-01-01 |title=Vines Among the dunes: sand/dune agriculture in Rimāl Isdūd/Ashdod-Yam during the Late Ottoman and British Mandate periods |url=https://www.academia.edu/128219356 |journal=Contemporary Levant |pages=7}}</ref>
Between 1951 and 1954, the [[Yeruham Dam]] was built on one of the tributaries of the HaBesor Stream.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} In 2012, Palestine added Wadi Gaza to the [[List of World Heritage Sites in the State of Palestine#Tentative list|tentative list of World Heritage Sites]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wadi Gaza Coastal Wetlands |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5722/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=UNESCO}}</ref>
In October 2023, as part of the [[Gaza war]], Israel ordered 1.1 million people then living north of the Wadi Gaza bridge to move south.<ref name="Sky">{{Cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/gaza-evacuation-why-getting-people-out-in-less-than-24-hours-is-impossible-12983748:|title=Gaza evacuation: Why getting people out in less than 24 hours is 'impossible'|date=15 October 2023|website=Sky News |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref>
<gallery> File:Wadi Gaza in the PEF Survey of Western Palestine composite (cropped).jpg|1888 File:Wadi Gaza in the 1933 Motor map of Palestine, Survey of Palestine (cropped).jpg|1933 File:09-09-WadiGhazza-1942.jpg|1942 </gallery>
==Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve== {{main|Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve}}
The Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve was declared a [[nature reserve]] by the [[Environment Quality Authority (Palestine)|Environmental Quality Authority]] of [[Palestinian Authority]] in June 2000. It is confined to the course of the Wadi and its floodplain and banks within the Palestinian jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mahmiyat.ps/uploads/WadiGazaMP.pdf |title=MANAGEMENT PLAN- WADI GAZA |author=MedWetCoast project}}</ref>
The Gaza section of the [[Coastal Aquifer]] is the only significant source of water in the Gaza Strip.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7rgHmpppZ-wC&pg=PA109 ''Integrated Water Resources Management and Security in the Middle East''], p. 109. Clive Lipchin; Springer, 2007</ref> The Wadi Gaza runs through a wetland, the '''Gaza Valley''', and as of 2012 it is used as a wastewater dump.<ref name=ARIJ>{{cite web |url=http://www.arij.net/node/5905siege |title=Gaza's Valley of Slow Death | إعلاميون من أجل صحافة استقصائية عربية (أريج) |language=ar |publisher=Arij.net |access-date=2014-07-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714195502/http://arij.net/node/5905siege |archive-date=2014-07-14}}</ref>
In 2022, rehabilitation began to turn Wadi Gaza back into a nature reserve.<ref>{{cite news |title=From sewage dump to nature reserve, UN hopes to save Gaza Valley | url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220207-from-sewage-dump-to-nature-reserve-un-hopes-to-save-gaza-valley/ | work = Middle East Monitor | access-date=4 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Al-Mughrabi |first1=Nidal |last2=Al-Mughrabi |first2=Nidal |date=2022-02-07 |title=From sewage dump to nature reserve, UN hopes to save Gaza Valley |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/sewage-dump-nature-reserve-un-hopes-save-gaza-valley-2022-02-07/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>
==Geography== [[File:Nahal-besor-suspension-bridge-b.jpg|thumb|A bridge across HaBesor Stream, Western Negev.]] The stream begins at Mount Boker (near [[Sde Boker]]), and spills into the [[Mediterranean Sea]] near [[Al-Zahra]] in the [[Gaza Strip]]. Further upstream it was marked as '''Wadi esh-Shallaleh''' on the 1878 [[Palestine Exploration Fund|Survey of Western Palestine]] map. The area has several important archaeological sites.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
The stream is the largest in the northern Negev, and together with its largest tributaries, the [[Nahal Gerar]], and the Beersheba stream, reaches as far east into the desert as Sde Boker, [[Yeruham]], [[Dimona]], and [[Arad, Israel|Arad]]/[[Tel Arad]].<ref name="ariel"/>
The source of Besor River lies at Mount Boker, near [[Sde Boker]] and the educational center [[Midreshet Ben-Gurion]]. From there it flows northwest towards the town of [[Ashalim]], where it meets Nahal Be'er Hayil.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
From there it flows north towards the ancient town of [[Elusa (Haluza)|Haluza]] ([[Al-Khalasa]]). Then it continues northwest until it meets the [[Beersheba River]] a little to the east of the town of [[Tze'elim]].{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
Near the village of [[Re'im]], Nahal Besor meets the [[Nahal Gerar]] river, which is its biggest tributary.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
One of the tributaries of the Besor River reaches [[Urim, Israel|kibbutz Urim]]. Tributaries from south to north: HaRo'e Stream, Boker Stream, Mesora Stream, Zalzal Stream, Revivim Stream, Atadim Stream, Beersheba Stream, Assaf Stream, Amar Stream, Sahaf Stream, and Wadi Abu Katrun.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
Finally, Bezor Stream flows across the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, and into the Mediterranean sea.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
== Ecology and environment == [[File:Red Anemone coronaria at Nahal Habsor Park, Northwestern Negev, Israel.jpg|thumb|Red ''[[Anemone coronaria]]'' flower near the Besor. Typical for the region, [[Loess]] badlands can be seen in the background.]]
=== Fauna === The [[Gaza–Israel barrier]] presents a physical barrier which effects the makeup of wildlife in the portion of the wadi in the Gaza Strip by limiting movement. Between 2002 and 2004 a survey of wildlife around the wadi as it passes through the Gaza Strip found that it was devoid of large mammals, though small mammals such as [[bat]]s, [[hedgehog]]s, and [[rodent]]s were common. Wildlife hunting for food is more common in this area than in Israel.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Abd Rabou |first1=Abdel Fattah N. |last2=Yassin |first2=Maged M. |last3=Al Agha |first3=Mohammed R. |last4=Hamad |first4=Dawi M. |last5=Ali |first5=Abdel Karim S. |date=2007 |title=Wild mammals in the Gaza Strip, with particular reference to Wadi Gaza |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248703503 |journal=The Islamic University Journal (Series of Natural Studies and Engineering) |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=88, 102–103}}</ref>
=== Pollution === A study conducted in 2001 and 2002 found that the section of the wadi flowing through the Gaza Strip had higher levels of pollutants in summer than winter, when greater rainfall diluted the concentration. There were high levels of [[Mercury (element)#Sediment contamination|mercury]], [[cadmium]], iron and zinc.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shomar |first1=B. H. |last2=Müller |first2=G. |last3=Yahya |first3=A. |date=2005 |title=Seasonal Variations of Chemical Composition of Water and Bottom Sediments in the Wetland of Wadi Gaza, Gaza Strip |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11273-004-0412-3 |journal=Wetlands Ecology and Management |language=en |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=422, 429 |doi=10.1007/s11273-004-0412-3 |bibcode=2005WetEM..13..419S |issn=0923-4861|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Archaeology== Several archaeological sites were excavated by Eann Macdonald in 1929 to 1930 along the Wadi Ghazzeh in lower Nahal Besor that show signs of specialist flint production. Some of these sites were re-excavated in 1969 by [[Jean Perrot]].<ref name="PeregrineEmber2002">*{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-first=Peter Neal |editor1-last=Peregrine |editor1-link=Peter N. Peregrine |editor2-first=Melvin |editor2-last=Ember |editor2-link=Melvin Ember |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Prehistory |volume=8 : South and Southwest Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-TQpUtI-dgC&pg=PA61 |access-date=2 May 2011 |year=2002 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-306-46262-7 |page=61 |title=Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 8: South and Southwest Asia}}</ref><ref name="JerusalemHistory1990">{{cite book |author1=British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem |author2=British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History |title=Levant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZwsAQAAIAAJ |access-date=2 May 2011 |year=1990 |publisher=British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem [and] British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History.}}</ref>
Several important [[Bronze Age]] archaeological sites are in this area. Among them are [[Tell Jemmeh|Tel Gamma]], and [[Tell el-Far'ah (South)]]. A smaller site of Qubur al-Walaydah is located between them.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Gunnar |last1=Lehmann |first2=Steven A. |last2=Rosen |first3=Angelika |last3=Berlejung |first4=Bat-Ami |last4=Neumeier |first5=Hermann M. |last5=Niemann |url=https://www.academia.edu/4485617 |title=Excavations at Qubur al-Walaydah, 2007–2009 |work=academia.edu}}</ref>
===Taur Ikhbeineh=== {{main|Taur Ikhbeineh}} Taur Ikhbeineh is an Early Bronze Age settlement {{convert|3|km}} inland from Gaza's Mediterranean coast. It was occupied in the 4th millennium BC and pottery from the site indicates interactions between Canaanite and Egyptian people. It was located along a probable paleo-estuary of the wadi.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oren |first1=Eliezer D. |last2=Yekutieli |first2=Yuval |chapter=Taur Ikhbeineh: Earliest Evidence for Egyptian Interconnections |title=The Nile Delta in Transition: 4th–3rd Millennium B.C. |year=1992 |editor-first=Edwin C. M. |editor-last=van den Brink |location=Tel Aviv |publisher=Israel Exploration Society |pages=363, 373–375 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43433973}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morhange |first1=Christophe |last2=Hamdan Taha |first2=Mohamed |last3=Humbert |first3=Jean-Baptiste |last4=Marriner |first4=Nick |title=Human settlement and coastal change in Gaza since the Bronze Age |journal=Méditerranée: Revue géographique des pays méditerranéens |year=2005 |volume=104 |page=77 |doi=10.4000/mediterranee.2252 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
===Tell es-Sakan=== [[File:The frontier of Egypt in the Early Bronze Age - preliminary soundings at Tell es-Sakan (Gaza Strip), fig 19.4.png|thumb|Pierre de Miroschedji and [[Moain Sadeq]] led excavations at [[Tell es-Sakan]] in 2000.]] {{Main|Tell es-Sakan}} Tell es-Sakan is an Early Bronze Age settlement on the northern bank of the Wadi Gaza, close to Gaza City.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=de Miroschedji |first1=Pierre |last2=Sadeq |first2=Moain |title=Sakan, Tell es- |encyclopedia=The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land |date=2008 |publisher=[[Israel Exploration Society]]/[[Biblical Archaeology Society]] (BAS) |volume=5: Supplementary Volume |via=BAS Library |url=https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/book/the-new-encyclopedia-of-archaeological-excavations-in-the-holy-land/sakan-tell-es/ |access-date=23 June 2024 |archive-date=23 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623172348/https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/book/the-new-encyclopedia-of-archaeological-excavations-in-the-holy-land/sakan-tell-es/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It covers an area of {{Convert|8-9|ha}} and was inhabited between 3300 and 2300 BC. It began as an Egyptian settlement before it was abandoned around 3000 BC and later inhabited by Canaanites in 2600 BC.<ref>{{citation |last1=de Miroschedji |first1=Pierre |title=Les fouilles de Tell es-Sakan (Gaza): nouvelles données sur les contacts égypto-cananéens aux IVe-IIIe millénaires |journal=Paléorient |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=77–78 |year=2001 |language=French |doi=10.3406/paleo.2001.4732 |last2=Sadeq |first2=Moain |last3=Faltings |first3=Dina |last4=Boulez |first4=Virginie |last5=Naggiar-Moliner |first5=Laurence |last6=Sykes |first6=Naomi |last7=Tengberg |first7=Margareta |author-link6=Naomi Sykes |doi-access=free}}</ref>
===Tell el-Ajjul=== {{Main|Tell el-Ajjul}} Tell el-Ajjul was established in the Bronze Age and was likely a successor settlement to Tell es-Sakan.<ref>{{citation |last1=de Miroschedji |first1=Pierre |title=Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean |page=155 |year=2005 |editor-last=Clarke |editor-first=Joanne |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv310vqks.24 |chapter=The frontier of Egypt in the Early Bronze Age: preliminary soundings at Tell es-Sakan (Gaza Strip) |publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant |isbn=978-1-84217-168-4 |jstor=j.ctv310vqks.24 |last2=Sadeq |first2=Moain |jstor-access=free}}</ref> It is on the northern bank of the wadi.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Winter |first=Holly A. |date=2018 |title=Tell el-'Ajjul palaces I and II: Context and function |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00310328.2017.1386498 |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |language=en |volume=150 |issue=1 |pages=6 |doi=10.1080/00310328.2017.1386498 |issn=0031-0328|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
===Tell Jemmeh/Tel Gamma=== {{Main|Tell Jemmeh}} [[File:Tel-Gamma-16.jpg|thumb|Tel Gamma]] Tell Jemmeh (Arabic) or Tel Gamma (תל גמה; Hebrew) is located on the west side of Nahal Besor, near [[Re'im]] and is close to {{convert|50000|m2|ha acre}} in size. {{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} The site was continuously settled only between the Middle Bronze IIB (c. 1700–1550 BCE) and the Persian period (c. 530–330 BC). During the Iron I (c. 1200–1000 BE) the site was part of the [[Philistine]] territory.<ref name="ben-shlomo" />
The first archaeological excavations mistakenly identified Tel Gamma as biblical [[Gerar]],{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} and it has since been identified by researchers as the Canaanite city of [[Yursa|Yurzah]] (ירזה), that was cited on the lists of Pharaoh [[Thutmose III]] (15th century BCE), as well as in [[Amarna letters]].<ref name="ben-shlomo" />
===Tell el-Farah (South)=== {{Main|Tell el-Far'ah (South)}} Tell el-Farah (South), sometimes referred to as Tell Fara,<ref name="PetrieTufnell1930">{{cite book |author1=William Matthew Flinders Petrie |author2=Olga Tufnell |title=Beth-Pelet 1: Tell Fara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xu8rQwAACAAJ |year=1930 |publisher=British School of Archaeology in Egypt}}</ref> is on the west side of Nahal Besor, near [[Ein HaBesor]]. The tell is {{convert|37|ha}} in size and {{convert|15|m}} high and was an important fortified site in the Middle [[Bronze Age]]. The earliest major settlement that has been uncovered to date is from the Middle Bronze Age II, lasting from ca. 1650 to 1550 BCE.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} It was controlled by [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] in the Late Bronze Age and inhabited by [[Philistines]] into the [[Iron Age]]. A [[hematite]] seal in the shape of the head of a [[bull]] was found and identified by [[Flinders Petrie]] to originate from [[Syria (region)|Syria]], it showed a bull attacking a [[lion]] beneath a [[scorpion]].<ref name="KeelUehlinger1998">{{cite book |author1=Othmar Keel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjYAWXO-jdAC&pg=PA144 |title=Gods, goddesses, and images of God in ancient Israel |author2=Christoph Uehlinger |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-567-08591-7 |pages=144– |access-date=2 May 2011}}</ref>
[[Flinders Petrie]] first identified the site as Beth-Pelet ({{bibleverse||Joshua|15:27|HE}}) and published the excavation reports under the names Beth-Pelet I - II. It has been linked by [[William Foxwell Albright]] to the ancient settlement of [[Sharuhen]], although [[Tall al-Ajjul|Tell el-Ajjul]] near the estuary of Nahal Besor, and [[Tel Haror]] to the north, are also being suggested.<ref name="Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible">{{cite book |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA1197 |access-date=2 May 2011 |date=31 December 2000 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-5356-503-2 |pages=1197}}</ref> Nahal Besor has been suggested to be the [[Brook of Egypt]].<ref>Nadav Na'aman, [https://www.academia.edu/12932443 The Brook of Egypt and Assyrian Policy on the Egyptian Border.] Tel Aviv 6 (1979), pp. 68-90</ref><ref name="Liverani1995" />
==Flooding== Besor Stream is subject to annual flooding following heavy rains. Some Palestinians have claimed that Israel is at fault for the flooding, due to the opening of one or more dams opened upstream,<ref name="afp1" /> and in 2015, [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] posted a video showing flooding, entitled "Gaza village floods after Israel opens dam gates."<ref name="toi1" /> Several days later, AFP published a story acknowledging that "no such dam exists in Israel that could control the flow of water into Gaza, according to a team of AFP reporters on the ground as well as interviews with Israeli and international experts."<ref name="afp1" />
==See also== * [[Ein HaBesor]] * [[List of archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip]] * [[Nahal Hevron]] * [[Tourism in Israel]]
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="afp1">{{cite news |last=Ward |first=Hazel |date=2015-02-27 |title=Gaza floods: dispelling the myth about Israeli 'dams' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/gaza-floods-dispelling-myth-israeli-dams-153701865.html |newspaper=Yahoo! News |agency=[[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] |access-date=2016-08-09 |archive-date=2016-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913181212/https://www.yahoo.com/news/gaza-floods-dispelling-myth-israeli-dams-153701865.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name="ariel">{{cite encyclopedia |author=Vilnai, Ze'ev |author-link=Zev Vilnay |title=Besor (Stream) |encyclopedia=Ariel Encyclopedia |volume=1 |pages=1065–1066 |publisher=[[Am Oved]] |location=[[Tel Aviv]], Israel |year=1976 |language=he}}</ref> <ref name="ben-shlomo">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1179/0075891413Z.00000000031 |title=Tell Jemmeh, Philistia and the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the Late Iron Age |journal=Levant |volume=46 |pages=58–88 |year=2014 |last1=Ben-Shlomo |first1=David}}</ref> <ref name="Liverani1995">{{cite book |author=Mario Liverani |title=Neo-Assyrian geography, p. 111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IaoMAQAAMAAJ |access-date=2 May 2011 |year=1995 |publisher=Università di Roma, Dipartimento di scienze storiche, archeologiche e antropologiche dell'Antichità}}</ref> <ref name="toi1">{{cite news |last=Berman |first=Lazar |date=2015-02-25 |title=False 'Israel drowns Gaza' claims sweep internet |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/false-israel-drowns-gaza-claims-sweep-internet/ |newspaper=[[Times of Israel]] |access-date=2016-08-09}}</ref> }}
== Further reading == * {{Cite journal |last1=Abd Rabou |first1=Abdel Fattah N. |last2=Yassin |first2=Maged M. |last3=Al Agha |first3=Mohammed R. |last4=Hamad |first4=Dawi M. |last5=Ali |first5=Abdel Karim S. |date=2007 |title=The Herpetofauna of the Gaza Strip with Particular Emphasis on the Vicinity of Wadi Gaza |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228661897 |journal=The Islamic University Journal (Series of Natural Studies and Engineering) |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=111–135}} * {{cite journal |last1=El-Khoudary |first1=R. H. |last2=Anan |first2=H. S. |title=Preliminary study on the geology and geomorphology of Wadi Gaza, Gaza Strip |journal=Proceedings of the 2nd Jordanian Geological Conference |year=1985 |pages=531–539}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ubeid |first=Khalid Fathi |date=2016 |title=Quaternary alluvial deposits of Wadi Gaza in the middle of the Gaza Strip (Palestine): Facies, granulometric characteristics, and their paleoflow direction |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1464343X1630098X |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=118 |pages=274–283 |doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2016.03.012|bibcode=2016JAfES.118..274U |url-access=subscription }} * {{Cite journal |last1=Zaineldeen |first1=Usama |last2=Aish |first2=Adnan |date=2012 |title=Geology, geomorphology and hydrology of the Wadi Gaza catchment, Gaza Strip, Palestine |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1464343X12001410 |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=76 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2012.07.005|bibcode=2012JAfES..76....1Z |url-access=subscription }}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Besor Stream}} * [http://farahsouth.cgu.edu/index.htm Official website of the Tell el-Farah excavations, Nahal Besor. Claremont Graduate University.]
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[[Category:Rivers of Israel]] [[Category:Landforms of Southern District (Israel)]] [[Category:Rivers of the Gaza Strip]] [[Category:Hebrew Bible rivers]] [[Category:Negev]] [[Category:Hebrew Bible valleys]] [[Category:Book of Joshua locations]] [[Category:Book of Numbers locations]] [[Category:Archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip]]