Eilat or Umm Al-Rashrash is Israel's southernmost city with a population of 52,299, a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The city is considered a tourist destination for domestic and international tourists heading to Israel. Eilat is part of the Southern Negev Desert, at the southern end of the Arabah, adjacent to the Egyptian village of Taba to the south, the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to the east, and within sight of Haql, Saudi Arabia, across the gulf to the southeast.

History

Early history

On the left a map drawn by the first foreigner to explore the area in modern times with current borders overlaid; modern Eilat is located between the mountain "Gatal Mahamar" and the area labelled "marais saumâtre" (brackish marsh). On the right, an early Israeli map drawn shortly after the founding of modern Eilat.
Historical "Elath" / Ayla is located at Aqaba, in Jordan; the Israeli map includes the words Hebrew: אֵילַת הרומאית‎, lit. 'Roman Eilat'. The mound shown on the 1822 map as "Ruines d'Elana" is today known as Tell el-Kheleifeh, speculated to be Biblical Ezion-Geber; it is shown on the Israeli map as Hebrew: עֶצְיֹן גֶּבֶר‎, lit. 'Ezion-Geber'. The mountain peak named "Gebel Gatal Mahamar" in 1822 is named Hebrew: הַר שְׁלֹמֹה‎, lit. 'Mount Solomon' in the Israeli map

Archaeological excavations uncovered impressive prehistoric tombs dating to the 7th millennium BC at the western edge of Eilat, while nearby copper workings and mining operations at Timna Valley are the oldest on earth.

An Islamic copper smelting and trading community of 250–400 residents flourished in the area during the Umayyad Period (700–900 CE); its remains were found and excavated in 1989, at the northern edge of modern Eilat, between what is now the industrial zone and nearby Kibbutz Eilot.

Modern city

During the British Mandate era, a British police post existed in the area, which was known as Umm Al-Rashrash. The area was designated as part of the Jewish state in the 1947 UN Partition Plan. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the abandoned police post, which consisted of five clay huts, was taken without a fight on March 10, 1949, as part of Operation Uvda. This marked the end of Israel's war for independence. It was formally granted to Israel in the 1949 Armistice Agreements.

The town developed over the following years. Eilat Airport was built in 1949 and individual ships began arriving in the 1950s, but as there were no dedicated port facilities they unloaded their goods at sea. In the early 1950s, Eilat was a small and remote town, populated largely by port workers, soldiers, and former prisoners. The town's development accelerated in 1955, when it had a population of about 500. The Timna Copper Mines near the Timna Valley and the Port of Eilat were opened that year and concerted effort by the Israeli government to populate Eilat began, starting with Jewish immigrant families from Morocco being resettled there. Eilat began to develop rapidly after the Suez Crisis in 1956, with its tourism industry in particular starting to flourish. The town's population grew to 5,300 in 1961. Yoseftal Medical Center and the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline were completed in 1968, and the population increased further, reaching 13,100 in 1972 and 18,900 in 1983.

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Arab countries maintained a state of hostility with Israel, blocking all land routes; Israel's access to and trade with the rest of the world was by air and sea alone. Further, Egypt denied passage through the Suez Canal to Israeli-registered ships or to any ship carrying cargo to or from Israeli ports. This made Eilat and its sea port crucial to Israel's communications, commerce and trade with Africa and Asia, and for oil imports. Without recourse to a port on the Red Sea Israel would have been unable to develop its diplomatic, cultural and trade ties beyond the Mediterranean basin and Europe. This happened in 1956 and again in 1967, when Egypt's closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping effectively blockaded the port of Eilat.

In 1956, this led to Israel's participation alongside Britain and France in the war against Egypt sparked by the Suez Crisis, while in 1967 90% of Israeli oil passed through the Straits of Tiran. Oil tankers that were due to pass through the straits were delayed. The straits' closure was cited by Israel as an additional casus belli leading to the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Following peace treaties signed with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, Eilat's borders with its neighbors were finally opened.

Israeli–Arab conflict

Eilat is especially defended by its own special forces unit Lotar Eilat. It is a reservist special forces unit of the IDF trained in counter-terrorism and hostage rescue in the Eilat area, which has taken part in many counter-terrorist missions in the region since its formation in 1974. The Lotar unit is composed solely of reservists, citizens who must be Eilat residents between the ages of 20 and 60, who are on call in case of a terrorist attack on the city. It is one of only three units in the IDF authorized to free hostages on its own command.

In 2007 the Eilat bakery bombing killed three civilian bakers. This was the first such attack in Eilat proper, although other terror attacks had been carried out in the area.

In 2011, terrorists infiltrated Israel across the Sinai border to execute multiple attacks on Highway 12, including a civilian bus and private car a few miles north of Eilat, in what became known as the 2011 southern Israel cross-border attacks.

In order to prevent terrorist infiltration of Israel from the Sinai, Israel has built the Israel-Egypt barrier, a steel barrier equipped with cameras, radar and motion sensors along the country's southern border. The fence was completed in January 2013.

Future development plans

In July 2012, Israel signed an agreement with China to cooperate in building the high-speed railway to Eilat, a railway line which will serve both passenger and freight trains. It will link Eilat with Beersheba and Tel Aviv, and will run through the Arava Valley and Nahal Zin.

The former Eilat Airport was closed on 18 March 2019 after the opening of Ramon Airport. The land occupied by the former airport is to be redeveloped. The new Ramon Airport opened in January 2019, 18 kilometres (11 miles) north of Eilat and replaced both Eilat Airport and Ovda Airport. Hotels and apartment buildings, containing a total of 2,080 hotel rooms and 1,000 apartments will be constructed on the site, as well as 275 dunams of public space and pedestrian paths. The plans also set aside space for the railway line and an underground railway station. The plan's goal is to create an urban continuum between the city center and North Beach, as well as tighten the links between the city's neighborhoods, which were separated by the airport.

In addition, there are plans to move the Port of Eilat and the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline terminal to the northern part of the city, as well as to turn it into a university town of science and research, and brand it an international sports city. All these projects are part of a plan to increase Eilat's population to 150,000 people and build 35,000 hotel rooms.