Yad Mordechai Colony

Yad Mordechai is an Israeli settlement in the southern occupied Palestinian territories, located 10 km south of Ashkelon, on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Harbiya. In 2019, the settlement’s population was approximately 737 settlers.

Yad Mordechai settlement was established in 1936 by members of the Hashomer Hatzair movement from Poland. They initially organized themselves in a kibbutz called Mitzpe Yam near the settlement of Netanya, which was also founded in 1936. However, the estimated 14 dunams allocated for the settlement were insufficient for its development. As part of the Negev settlement plan, the community relocated to its current site near Ashkelon in December 1943. The settlement was renamed in memory of Mordechai Anielewicz. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Yad Mordechai was attacked by Egypt in the Battle of Yad Mordechai.

The kibbutz of Yad Mordechai expanded on the lands of the Palestinian village of Harbiya, which was emptied of its residents by Israeli forces during the 1948 war. It is located directly north of the lands of the village of Deir Sunayd.

Depopulated village of Harbiya

Sources:
Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used, including:

• The official Hebrew website of the settlement
• The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
• Harbiya village from Palestine Remembered