Beersheba

Beersheba (/bɪərˈʃiːbə/; Hebrew: בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, Be'er Sheva [beʔeʁˈʃeva]; Latin: Bersabee; Arabic: بئر السبع‎ Biʾr as-Sabʿ  (listen) , Levantine pronunciation: [biːr esˈsabeʕ]) is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev," it is the eighth most populous city in Israel with a population of 201,086, and the second largest city with a total of 117,500 dunams (after Jerusalem).

Beersheba grew in importance in the 19th century, when the Ottoman Turks built a regional police station there. The Battle of Beersheba was part of a wider British offensive in World War I aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from Gaza to Beersheba. In 1947, Bir Seb'a (Arabic: بيئر شيبع‎), as it was known, was envisioned as part of the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Following the declaration of Israel's independence, the Egyptian army amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base. In the Battle of Beersheba waged in October 1948, it was conquered by the Israel Defense Forces.