Ad Halom is an area around the eastern entrance to the city of
AshdodAshdod , is the fifth-largest city in Israel, located in the Southern District of the country, on the Mediterranean coast, with a population of 207,000. Ashdod is an important regional industrial centre...
,
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
.
Battle
Ad Halom means 'until here' in Hebrew, referring to the northernmost point in
GazaGaza is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
whereto the Egyptian army advanced in Operation Pleshet of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Israel had on may 29th dispatched four
Avia S-199The Avia S-199 was a fighter aircraft built after World War II by the Avia Company , a branch of the enormous Škoda Works in Czechoslovakia. It was constructed with parts and plans left over from Luftwaffe aircraft production that had taken place under the country's German occupation during the war...
airplanes—one of them piloted by
Ezer Weizman' was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.-Biography:...
—attacking the Egyptians between the then Arab village of
IsdudIsdud Palestinian Arab town that was depopulated after a 28 October 1948 assault by Israeli forces.-History:Isdud came under Muslim rule in the seventh century...
and the bridge over the
Lachish RiverLakhish River is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the city of Ashdod. It is also known as Wadi Kabiba and Wadi Sukhrir in Arabic....
. The
Givati BrigadeThe Givati Brigade functions as the amphibious force and is one of the infantry brigades in the Israel Defense Forces. Givati soldiers are designated by purple berets...
blew up the bridge and defended the river bank from a
pillbox* A pill organizer* Pillbox hat* Military term for a type of bunker* For military pillboxes in the UK, see: British hardened field defences of World War II...
during
Operation BarakOperation Barak was a Haganah offensive launched just before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. It was part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to capture villages North of Gaza in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian army...
. The
Egyptian ArmyThe Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian military establishment. It is estimated to number around 340,000, plus around 375,000 reservists for a total of 655-715,000....
later took up positions at the site, which saw two battles in mid-1948.
The Egyptian forces were later defeated in
Operation YoavOperation Yoav was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15 October - 22 October, 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Egyptian forces along the coast and the Beersheba-Hebron-Jerusalem road and ultimately to conquer the...
; The pillbox and defensive wall remain as memorials of the events.
Monument
As part of
Camp David AccordsThe Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy...
between
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
a monument in the memory of the fallen Egyptian soldiers was established. It was compensation for the abandonment of Israeli obelisks in the Sinai
peninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paenīnsula : paene, almost + īnsula, island.A peninsula can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit....
. The inscriptions on the four edges are in Hebrew, Arabic,
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
and
hieroglyphsEgyptian hieroglyphs was a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that contained a combination of logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
.
Bridge
The Ad Halom Bridge was built over the Lakhish River (Wadi Sukrir/Wadi Fakhira) during the
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
period, and re-built by the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
at the end of the 19th century. A parallel railway bridge was added when the coastal railway (
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
–
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
) was laid. After numerous armed raids in the area during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, the British authorities set up a series of
pillbox* A pill organizer* Pillbox hat* Military term for a type of bunker* For military pillboxes in the UK, see: British hardened field defences of World War II...
es in the area, one of them next to the bridges. After its destruction in the Independence War, the bridge was reconstructed and upgraded. Today the four-lane
Highway 4Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
crosses the bridge.
Railway station
The
Israel RailwaysIsrael Railways is Israel's government-owned national railway company and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban railway passenger and freight traffic in the country. It utilizes the standard gauge in all its lines. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain from...
started to operate a passenger line to
AshdodAshdod , is the fifth-largest city in Israel, located in the Southern District of the country, on the Mediterranean coast, with a population of 207,000. Ashdod is an important regional industrial centre...
in the mid 1990's.
The new
railway stationAshdod Ad Halom Railway Station is a railway station in Ashdod, Israel. It is on the suburban line Binyamina/Netanya - Tel Aviv - Rehovot/Ashkelon. Ashdod Ad Halom Station was opened in June 1995 and was fully rebuilt in 2003.The station is located in Ad Halom area near the eastern entrance to the...
was established in 2004. In 2005 the line was extended to
AshkelonAshkelon or Ashqelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Bronze Age...
.
The short distance between the railway and poor planning of the
Ad Halom junction on
Highway 4Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
cause traffic jams. The first stage of new traffic interchange, intended to solve the problem, is was opened in October 2008.