Sufa Colony

Sufa was an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in Sinai. It was evacuated in 1982 as part of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty. Its former residents later established a new settlement with the same name in the northwestern Negev Desert near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The settlement was founded in 1974 as a Nahal settlement. Its name was derived from the severe dust storms that occurred in the area on January 17, 1977. It was officially designated as a kibbutz, and by 2019, its population was 211 settlers.

Sufa is the closest settlement to the Gaza Strip from the southern side and is located northeast of the city of Rafah. This location made it one of the first targets in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. The resistance took control of it after infiltrating via gliders, and it served as a starting point for attacks on other settlements.

Sources:
Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used: the settlement’s official Hebrew website and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.