Merhavia (moshav)

Merhavia (Hebrew: מֶרְחַבְיָה, lit. 'Spacious place of Yah') is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located to the east of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,299.

In the campaign and Battle of al-Fule (in Crusader terms La Fève, Latin Castrum Fabe), a Crusader force led by Guy of Lusignan skirmished with Saladin's Ayyubid army for more than a week in September and October 1183. The fighting ended on 6 October with Saladin being forced to withdraw.

The Afula mall bombing was a terrorist attack which occurred on May 19, 2003 in which a Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up outside the "Shaarei HaAmakim" mall in Afula, Israel, killing 3 Israeli civilians and injuring 70. Both the Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.

HaEmek Medical Center (Hebrew: מרכז רפואי העמק, Merkaz refu'i ha-Emek, lit. "The Valley Medical Center") is a regional hospital in the northern Israeli city of Afula. Located in the central part of the Jezreel Valley (Emek Yizrael), the hospital is one in a network of hospitals owned and operated by Clalit Health Services, and is affiliated with the Technion's Rappaport Faculty of Medicine.

The Afula axe attack was a 1994 attack by a Palestinian member of Hamas on a 19-year-old female Israeli soldier who was on her way home from the artillery base in which she served, in the downtown area of Afula, near the town's police station. The attacker hit her head from behind with an axe. The attack, which shocked the Israeli public, was one of the more prominent axe attacks at that time, which signified to many in the Israeli public a deterioration to their personal security at the time. The attacker was sentenced to life imprisonment, was released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, but was returned to prison after he resumed militant activity. He is currently serving a life sentence.

Afula (Hebrew: עֲפוּלָה, ʿĂfūlā) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of 2021, the city had a population of 59,075.Afula's ancient tell suggests habitation from the Late Calcolithic period to the Ayyubid period. It has been proposed that Afula is the location of the village Arbela mentioned in the Onomasticon of Eusebius and the 7th century Samaritan village of Kirjath Ophlatha. A fortress was built at the site during the Mamluk period. A small Palestinian Arab village during the Ottoman period, it was sold in 1872 with the entire Jezreel valley to the Lebanese Sursock family. In 1925, the same area was acquired by the American Zionist Commonwealth as part of the Sursock Purchase. The majority Muslim and Christian population were removed, and replaced by Jewish immigrants, marking the foundation of modern Afula. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Afula was settled by Jewish immigrants from Iraq, Yemen and Romania. In 1972, it gained the status of a city. The 1990s saw Jewish immigration from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union contribute to the growth of the city. Since 1995, the city has almost doubled its population.

The Battle of Mount Tabor was fought on 16 April 1799, between French forces commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte and General Jean-Baptiste Kléber, against an Ottoman Army under Abdullah Pasha al-Azm, ruler of Damascus. The battle was a consequence of the siege of Acre, in the later stages of the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria. Upon hearing that a Turkish and Mamluk army had been sent from Damascus to Acre, for the purpose of forcing the French to raise the siege of Acre, General Bonaparte sent out detachments to track it down. General Kléber led an advance guard and boldly decided to engage the much larger Turkish army of 35,000 men near Mount Tabor, managing to hold it off until Napoleon drove General Louis André Bon’s division of 2,000 men in a circling manoeuvre and took the Turks completely by surprise in their rear. The resulting battle saw the outnumbered French force inflict thousands of casualties and scatter the remaining forces of the pasha of Damascus, forcing them to abandon their hopes of reconquering Egypt and leaving Napoleon free to carry on the siege of Acre.

The Afula railway station (Hebrew: תחנת הרכבת עפולה, Taḥanat HaRakevet Afula) is a railway station on the Beit She'an – Atlit line serving Afula and the surrounding communities. It opened in 2016.

The Afula bus suicide bombing was carried out on 6 April 1994, at a bus stop next to an Egged bus in the center of Afula, Israel. Eight Israeli civilians were killed in the attack and 55 were injured. Hamas and PIJ claimed responsibility for the attack.This was the first suicide bombing attack to be carried out by Palestinian militants against Israeli civilians in Israel, and was carried out in retaliation for the killing by a settler of 29 Muslims while they were at prayer in the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron on 25 February.

Afula Illit Stadium (Hebrew: איצטדיון עפולה עילית, Itztadion Afula Illit), is a football stadium in Afula, Israel. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Hapoel Afula.

Shunem or Shunaam (Hebrew: שׁוּנֵם Šūnēm; in LXX Ancient Greek: Σουνὰν, romanized: Sounàn) was a small village mentioned in the Bible in the possession of the Tribe of Issachar. It was located near the Jezreel Valley, north of Mount Gilboa (Joshua 19:18). Shunaam is where the Philistines camped when they fought Saul, the first king of Israel (1 Samuel 28:4). It was the hometown of Abishag, King David's companion in his old age (1 Kings 1:1). The prophet Elisha was hospitably entertained there by a wealthy woman whose deceased son Elisha brought back to life. (2 Kings 4:8) Shunaam is listed as a town conquered by the pharaohs of Egypt Thutmose III and Shoshenk I.Shunaam may have been located at the site of the modern village of Sulam.

Sulam (Arabic: سولم; Hebrew: סוּלַם) is an Arab village in north-eastern Israel. Known in ancient times as Shunama and Shunem, it is first mentioned in the Amarna Letters in the 14th century BCE. Archaeological excavations in the village attest to habitation extending from the Bronze Age through to modern times. Located near Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bustan al-Marj Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 2,661.