General Information:

Tour Type: Observation point. Short tours possible.

Track Duration: 1-1.5 hours

Difficulty Level: Low

Rest Rooms on-site: None.

Possible picnic points: 8 picnic tables at the entrance to the site

Getting there: Drive south on road 232 towards the Rafah border crossing. After about 21 km, you will reach the Avshalom junction, continue for another 2 km and turn left, following the brown signs pointing to the monument. After 1 more km, you will recognize the entrance to the site between avenues of palm trees.

Tour starting point and ending point: the starting point is the Steel Division (Ha-Plada) monument; the endpoint is the access road to Camp Amitai, the “Yamit Walls” site.

WAZE – Ha-Plada Monument

About the site:

A memorial to the fallen of the Steel Division in the battles over the Gaza Strip and the Sinai in the Six-Day War, including an observation point from which one can see the border triangle of Egypt, Israel and Gaza.

What to see/discuss? – How the border was formed in 1906, the War of Independence, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the Zionist settlement in Sinai and more.

Opening hours: open all year round

Background on the monument:

The Steel Division (Division 84) was an IDF division that fought in the Six-Day War in North Sinai under the command of General Israel Tal. The division captured the Rafah compounds, broke into North Sinai, and was the first to reach the Suez Canal. The division consisted of two armored brigades (Division 7 and Brigade 60 ), paratroopers (the 35th Brigade), military engineering and artillery forces.

The monument was designed by Israel Goodovitch. It was inaugurated in the center of Yamit city at the Rafah entrance on June 5, 1977, exactly ten years after the war. In the center of the monument stands a 25-meter tower with stairs that leading to a balcony from which it is possible to enjoy a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Around the tower are 400 concrete pillars, some of which contain parts of armored vehicles or other weapons, silent testimony to the explosions and the results of the fighting when shrapnel from military weaponry were scattered. The front of the monument features plaques with the symbols of military units that participated in the fighting, and a list of the fallen. After the evacuation of the city of Yamit, the monument was rebuilt in its current location, near Kerem Shalom, where it was inaugurated on June 15, 1982.