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Route 232
Route 232
כביש 232
Route information
Length	81.4 km (50.6 mi)
Major junctions
South end	Kerem Shalom border crossing
North end	Nitzanim
Location
Country	Israel
Highway system
	Roads in Israel; Highways;

Route 232 is a rural road in southern Israel. It begins at the Kerem Shalom Crossing at the border with the Gaza Strip, and it passes through the Gaza Envelope, near kibbutzim Re'im, Be'eri, and Kfar Aza, where it meets Highway 25. It continues Northeast to meet Highway 4 near Sderot, before turning northward to terminate on the same road north of Ashkelon. Since the October 7th attack, the road has been given the monicker of the "road of death" within Israel.

History

The northern part of the road (from Nitzanim to Nir Am area) was paved during the British Mandate. The road was a major axis for the Negev communities and the control of a number of battles during the Israeli War of Independence. The southern part of the road was paved in 1951 to connect the Western Negev communities: Be'eri, Magen, Re'im, Kissufim, Ein HaShlosha, Nirim and Merhavim Regional Council communities on the road. The road continued in being paved up to Route 241 in the south.^[1] In 1954-1955, the road was extended to Nir Yitzhak^[2] and in 1959 the road from Nir Yitzhak was extended to Kerem Shalom.^[3]

After the Six-Day War, the road was paved next to Kerem Shalom Road about 6 miles that connected to the coastal road in Sinai.^[4] This road served as the Israeli traffic to Sinai at the end of 1969, following many attacks on Highway 4 in the Gaza Strip to Israeli civilian traffic.^[5] As a result, the National Roads Company of Israel expanded the road.^[6]

In the mid-1980s, Highway 10 was paved as well as a connection from the road, near Sufa, to the Gaza Strip towards Morag and Gush Katif, (the road section was also called the Kissufim road [he] and was part of Route 242),^[7] but its use was relatively little because of its remoteness from the population centers in Israel. In July 1991, the continuation of Route 242 was inaugurated from Highway 4 and most of the traffic to Gush Katif moved to Route 232 and from it to Route 242, especially after the Palestinian Authority was established and the transfer of power in the Gaza Strip. After the closure of the Karni crossing and the Erez crossing, all the trucks bearing goods designed for the Gaza Strip were directed to the Kerem Shalom crossing, which created heavy traffic loads on the road and raised protest by the residents of Hevel Eshkol.

In 2005-2019, 44 people were killed in road accidents. In 2014 the government decided to expand the road to two lanes, in 2019 construction began and 8.5 kilometers were upgraded.^[8]

Route 232 played a role in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. This road provides access to some of the worst affected communities, with Palestinian gunmen ambushing civilian vehicles fleeing along this route.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Junctions & Interchanges

District^[12]	Location^[13]	km	mi	Name	Destinations	Notes
Southern	Near Kerem Shalom	0	0.0	צומת ליד כרם שלום (Junction near Kerem Shalom)	Highway 10	Access road to Kerem Shalom Crossing. Highway 10 is currently military use only.
	Kerem Shalom	2.1	1.3	כרם שלום (Kerem Shalom)	Entrance to Kerem Shalom
	Sdei Avraham	5.5	3.4	צומת אבשלום (Avshalom Junction)	Road 2211
	Holit	6.5	4.0	צומת חולית (Holit Junction)	Route 240
	Pri Gan	7.8	4.8	צומת פרי גן (Pri Gan Junction)	Road 2200
	Nir Yitzhak	8.6	5.3		Entrance to Nir Yitzhak
	Mivtahim	13.9	8.6	צומת מבטחים (Mivtahim Junction)	Road 2310
	Ein HaBesor	17	11	צומת גבולות (Gvulot Junction)	Route 222
	Magen	20	12	צומת מגן (Magen Junction)	Entrance to Magen
	Magen	22.5	14.0	צומת מעון (Ma'on Junction)	Route 241 Road 2410
	Re'im	30	19	צומת גמה (Gama Junction)	Route 242
	Re'im	31	19	צומת רעים (Re'im Junction)	Route 234
	Be'eri	37.5	23.3	צומת בארי (Be'eri Junction)	Entrance to Be'eri
	Alumim	40.5	25.2	צומת עלומים (Alumim Junction)	Entrance to Alumim
	Sa'ad	43	27	צומת סעד (Sa'ad Junction)	Highway 25 Entrance to Sa'ad
		43.5	27.0	צומת סעד (Sa'ad Junction)	Highway 25
		44.2	27.5		Entrance to Sa'ad
	Kfar Aza	44.5	27.7	צומת כפר עזה (Kfar Aza Junction)	Entrance to Kfar Aza
	Mefalsim	49.5	30.8	צומת מפלסים (Mefalsim Junction)	Entrance to Mefalsim
	Sha'ar HaNegev	52	32	צומת שער הנגב (Sha'ar HaNegev Junction)	Highway 34
	Sapir Academic College	53.2	33.1		Access road to Sapir Academic College
	Sderot	54.6	33.9		Menachem Begin Rd.
	Sderot	55.4	34.4	צומת דורות (Dorot Junction)	Route 334
	Ibim	55.7	34.6	צומת איבים (Ibim Junction)	Entrance to Ibim
	Or HaNer	59	37	צומת אור הנר (Or HaNer Junction)	Entrance to Or HaNer
	Bror Hayil	59.3	36.8	צומת ברור חיל (Bror Hayil Junction)	Entrance to Bror Hayil
	Heletz	51	32	צומת חלץ (Heletz Junction)	Route 352
	Kokhav Michael	68.5	42.6		HaTzabar Street
	Sde Yoav	70.5	43.8	צומת גבעתי (Givati Junction)	Highway 35
	Hodaya	74.5	46.3	צומת הודיה (Hodaya Junction)	Highway 3
	Nitzanim	81.4	50.6	צומת אשכולות (Eshkolot Junction)	Highway 4
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Closed/former