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Kiryat Shmona () is a city in the Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanon border.
In it had a population of . Located near the Israel–Lebanon border, Kiryat Shmona is Israel's northernmost city.
Initially the empty houses of Al-Khalisa were used as a transit camp for Aliyah who worked mainly in farming. The first residents were fourteen Yemenite Jews who arrived on July 18, 1949, and were followed by more Yemenis a month later. By July 1951, the population had grown to nearly 4,000. Relationships with nearby kibbutz were often strained.
In 1953, Kiryat Shmona was declared a development town.HaReuveni, Immanuel (1999). 9789654484138, Miskal – Yedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed Books. ISBN 9789654484138 In the first few years, growth was driven by the arrival of immigrants from Romania, India, Iraq, and Iran, as well as Kurdish immigrants from the Iraqi Kurdistan and Iranian areas of Kurdistan. However, later on, waves of immigrants from Maghrebi Jews, in particular from Moroccan Jews, arrived. The city was built without a master plan, but rather neighborhood by neighborhood as waves of immigrants arrived.
On April 11, 1974, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), sent three militants across the border from Lebanon to Kiryat Shmona. They killed eighteen residents of an apartment building, including many children, before being killed in an exchange of fire at the complex, which became known as the Kiryat Shmona massacre.
The city continued to be the target of attacks, including Katyusha rocket attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in July 1981, a Katyusha rocket attack by the PLO in March 1986 (killing a teacher and injuring four students and one adult), and further Katyusha rocket attacks by Hezbollah during 1996's Operation Grapes of Wrath.
On 24/25 June 1999 two residents were killed when Hezbollah fired a salvo of Katyusha rockets into the centre of Kiryat Shimona. They were the first fatalities in a cross border attack since 1995 and came during massive Israeli air strikes across Lebanon which caused $52 million damage and killed eleven Lebanese.Middle East International. No 603, 2 July 1999; Publishers Christopher Mayhew. Dennis Walters; Michael Jansen pp.4-5; Reinoud Leendes pp.5&7 In spite of attacks from Lebanon, the population grew from 11,800 in 1972 to 15,100 in 1983.
In 2000–2006, the locals enjoyed relative peace but suffered from loud explosions every few weeks because of Hezbollah anti-aircraft cannons fired at Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes flying across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
In the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023, the city was evacuated due to attacks by Hezbollah and Palestinian factions from Southern Lebanon. During the war, there were 129 siren alerts throughout the city: 13 in the first month7.10.2023 - 6.11.2023 of the war, 15 in the second month,7.11.2023 - 6.12.2023 and 18 in the third month.7.12.2023 - 6.1.2024
The city was significantly damaged due to Hezbollah missile attacks, with the attacks causing damage to infrastructure and fires that have decimated the nearby area. Nearly all of Kiryat Shmona's inhabitants were evacuated to other areas of Israel as part of the conflict, with about 2,000 residents remaining in the city as of July 2024. Hezbollah attacks damaged 383 buildings and killed two people. In the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and subsequent ceasefire, residents began to return. Residents returning to Israel’s decimated far north worry their neighbors won’t come home However, as of late February, 2025, an estimated 80% of residents remained scattered across the country. City With No Residents Holds Elections
The city is located above the Dead Sea Transform fault, and as a result, is one of the cities in Israel most at risk to (along with Safed, Beit She'an, Tiberias, and Eilat).
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 10,800 males and 10,700 females. The population of the city was spread out, with 33.5% 19 years of age or younger, 19.8% between 20 and 29, 19.3% between 30 and 44, 15.3% from 45 to 59, 3.5% from 60 to 64, and 8.5% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 1.8%.
The Tel-Hai Academic College is a college located near kibbutz Kfar Giladi and north of Kiryat Shmona. The college offers academic and continuing education programs for approximately 4,500 students, 70 percent of whom come from outside the Galilee. Minorities comprise about 10 percent of the student body. The college offers degrees in life sciences, social sciences, computer science and the humanities.
Zephaniah Drori serves as the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Shmona as well as heading the Kiryat Shmona Hesder Yeshivah.
The economy is based on consumer-oriented products such as communications, information technology, and electronics as well as agriculture on the surrounding lands and tourism.
In the residential area there is an urban natural space called Park HaZahav. Zahav means "gold" in Hebrew; the park is named after the stream running through it, the Ein Zahav Stream. Park HaZahav covers 11 hectares in the middle of Kiryat Shmona. It comprises many diverse natural resources. In addition to intensive activity areas designated for leisure and play, and open to all, the park contains a diverse, protected, natural area comprising Ein Zahav Stream and HaTachanot Stream (Tachanot refers to two water mills tachana=mill which were active along this stream in the past), which flow through the middle of the park. These streams have created different aquatic habitats, including shallow sections, rapids, deep sections and pools that support diverse riparian vegetation that has developed with time into a riparian forest. This isn't common in Israel. The park has a trail that goes through the forest and along the stream. Included in the park are different gardening initiatives by local volunteers, a picnic area, and a playground.
The town is home to one of the 14 Israel Tennis Centers (ITC). These Centers throughout Israel teach children life skills through tennis. The Centers are primarily funded through donations. The Israel Children's Centers in the United States, and the Canada Israel Children's Centres are largely responsible for the funding of the Tennis Centers, which strive to never turn a child away due to financial need.
The Egged Bus Company provides services along 26 inner city bus routes in Kiryat Shmona. Egged Bus Company, along with Nateev Express, connect Kiryat Shmona to the surrounding Jewish and Arab localities. "Golan Public Transport" connects Kiryat Shmona to Jewish and Druze localities in the Golan Heights. Egged Bus Company also provides long-distance services to cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the center of the country.
Currently, Kiryat Shmona is not served by Israel Railways or any other sort of rail transport. There is an approved project to extend the Acre-Karmiel passenger rail line to Safed and Kiryat Shmona. The finalized plan was submitted for review in June 2022. The rail line will connect Kiryat Shmona to Safed (Tzahar), Karmiel, Haifa, and further south to the economic and population core of the Country at Gush Dan (Greater Tel Aviv). The rail line project itself has been subject to criticism. One criticism involves accusation of discrimination in planning against Arab citizens of Israel, specifically that despite being a rail line in the Galilee, a region where more than half the population are Arab, no stations that will serve any of the Arab localities of the region is proposed. Same situation exists along the existing Acre-Karmiel portion of the line. Furthermore, residents of Arab villages along the path of the railway line, specifically residents of the village of Nahf, charge that the proposed route of the railway line to Kiryat Shmona will result either in confiscation, or in imposition of a construction ban on 10% of the land area of the village, a village that is overcrowded and has a limited development space as it is. In addition, there are also criticisms with respect to the proposed placement of Kiryat Shmona Train Station. The station is proposed to be located outside of the urban area of the city, along local road "9779". A large parking space is proposed for the station as well. However, critics state that the location of the station will force the residents to either continue to rely on their private vehicles, or to the inconvenience of waiting for urban bus lines as opposed to simply walking.
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