Kokhav Michael

Kawkaba (Arabic: كوكبا), known to the Crusaders as Coquebel, was a Palestinian Arab village that was occupied by Israel during Operation Yoav during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and depopulated.

Sde Yoav (Hebrew: שְׂדֵה יוֹאָב, lit. Yoav's Field) is a kibbutz in southcentral Israel. Located between the cities of Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 594.

Operation Shmone (Hebrew: מִבְצָע שְׁמוֹנֶה, Mivtza Shmone, lit. Eight) was an Israeli military operation conducted against the Egyptian-held police fort of Iraq Suwaydan in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The battle was fought between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army on 9 November 1948, and ended in an Israeli victory, following numerous previous Israeli attempts to capture the fort, two of them in Operation Yoav just weeks before. The Israeli 8th and Givati brigades attacked the fort in broad daylight following a heavy artillery barrage. After a hole was blown through the wall of the fort, the Egyptian forces surrendered. The capture of the fort led to the Egyptian evacuation of Bayt 'Affa and other nearby positions, reducing the besieged Fallujah Pocket to the villages of Fallujah and Iraq al-Manshiyya.

Noga (Hebrew: נֹגַהּ, lit. Light of dawn) is a moshav in south-central Israel. Located in Hevel Lakhish between Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lakhish Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 578.

'Iraq Suwaydan (Arabic: عراق سويدان, Hebrew: עיראק סווידאן) was a Palestinian Arab village located 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Gaza City. It was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav against the defending Egyptian Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The village infrastructure, with the exception of the police station built by the British Mandate authorities, was destroyed.

Bayt Tima (Arabic: بيت طيما) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict, located 21 kilometers (13 mi) northeast of Gaza and some 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from the coastline. It was situated in flat terrain on the southern coastal plain of Palestine. Bayt Tima was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its population in 1945 was 1,060.

Hulayqat was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 20.5 km northeast of Gaza.

Otzem (Hebrew: עֹצֶם) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in Hevel Lakhish, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lakhish Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 753.

Negba (Hebrew: נֶגְבָּה) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert near the cities of Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 967.The name of the kibbutz is based on a verse in the Book of Genesis (13:14), where God commands Abraham to cast his eyes and travel throughout the land of Israel, toward the north, south, east and west. The word "negba" means "southward" in Biblical Hebrew.

The Battles of Negba were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Negba, a kibbutz founded in 1939, had a strategic position overlooking the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road, and was a target of two major assaults by the Egyptians in June and July 1948. On June 2, the Egyptians attacked the village from the south with a battalion reinforced with armor, artillery, and aircraft, and were beaten back by 140 defenders, who were assisted by motorized Negev Brigade forces. The second attack took place on July 12, when the Egyptians staged diversionary assaults on nearby positions and surrounded Negba from all sides, again with a reinforced battalion. This attack was also dispersed, and Negba remained in Israeli hands, serving as a forward base for attacks against Egyptian forces up to Operation Yoav.

Nehora (Hebrew: נהורה) is a community settlement in southern Israel. Located on the coastal plain about 5 km west Kiryat Gat in south-central Israel and just to the east of Route 352, across the road from Noga, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lakhish Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,195.

Hevel Lakhish (Hebrew: חבל לכיש, lit. Lakhish Region) is an area of south-central Israel. Part of the southern Shephelah, it is located between the Judean Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea and is named after the Biblical city of Lachish.