Tel Nof Airbase
Tel Nof Israeli Air Force (ICAO: LLEK), also known as Air Force Base 8, is one of three principal airbases of the Israeli Air Force. Tel Nof is located near Rehovot, Israel.
History
Tel Nof was founded in July 1939 during the British Mandate as RAF Aqir and served as the main Royal Air Force station in Palestine. From the 1948 Arab-Israeli War until 1950 it was known as Ekron Airfield.
Today Tel Nof houses several fighter and helicopter squadrons. Several special units of the Israel Defense Forces are also located here, including Unit 669 (airborne combat search and rescue) and the paratroopers training centre. Tel Nof housed the IAF flight academy until April 1966 when it was moved to Hatzerim Airbase.
In June 2011, it was reported that eight American jet engines for F-15 and F-16 fighters had been stolen from the base.
On 18 October 2011, Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been held captive by Hamas in Gaza for over five years and four months, returned to Israel via Tel Nof as part of a deal to exchange Shalit for 1,027 prisoners.
Aqir
Aqir, also spelt Akir and Akkur, was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, located 9 km southwest of Ramla and 1 km north of Wadi al-Nasufiyya (today called Nahal Ekron).
History
Until the early 20th century, Aqir was thought to lie at the site of the ancient Philistine city of Ekron, that has now been identified as Tel Mikne, 9 km to the south. The error seems rooted in antiquity; The Romans referred to the village as Accaron. In the 10th century, Al-Muqaddasi writes of Aqir (Ekron) as "A large village with a mosque. Its inhabitants are much given to good works. The bread here is not to be surpassed for quality. The village lies on the high road from Ar-Ramlah to Makka."Yakut called it Al Akir, and said it belonged to Ar Ramlah.
The village mosque had a construction text, made in naskhi script, and dating it to 1296-7.
Ottoman era
In 1596, Aqir (Amir) appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Ramla of the Liwa of Gaza. It had a population of 31 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, and other produce.
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