Ashdod

Ashdod (ăshˈdŏd, ăshdōdˈ) [Heb.,=stronghold], city, SW Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is Israel's leading port after Haifa. Construction is Ashdod's main industry; its manufactures include synthetic fibers, woolen yarn, and knitted goods. Nearby is the site of ancient Ashdod, which was settled as early as the Bronze Age. Conquered by the Philistines in the 12th cent. B.C., it became an important city of the Philistine Pentapolis and a center for the worship of Dagon. The city was later ruled by Judah, Egypt, and Assyria. The Jews of Ashdod had been considered idolatrous by other Jews since the time of the return to Jerusalem (6th cent. B.C.), but they were cleansed by Judas Maccabeus in 163 B.C. Jonathan, the brother of Judas Maccabeus, took the city in 148 B.C. and destroyed the temple of Dagon. Ashdod was revived by the Romans and was an early Christian center. The first modern Israeli settlement in Ashdod was made in 1955, and in 1965 the deepwater port was completed.

Ashdod

a town in central Israel, on the Mediterranean coast: an important city in the Philistine Empire, with its artificial harbour (1961) it is now a major port. Pop.: 192 000 (2003 est.)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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Hours earlier, air raid sirens rang out in Ashdod and the surrounding area and a rocket was intercepted over the city, about40 kilometers from the Strip.There have beenno reports of damage from the rocket or the interception.

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During the past few weeks, ultra-Orthodox activists have been waging a war on the new Ashdod shopping mall, and the rabbis took advantage of the rocket fire from Gaza to express their opinion on the matter.

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The Israeli Army said it had contacted the boat five times before and urged its passengers to divert to Ashdod, but the activists had repeatedly refused.

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<![CDATA[ Police tell public to stay away from southern beaches after a barrels with explosives washed up at Ashkelon and Ashdod.]]>

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during the Ashdod Immigration and Absorption conference on Monday that he will bring a million new Israeli immigrants to Israel, the Lebanese daily AN NAHAR reported on Monday.

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In the southern Israeli port of Ashdod where the ship was towed and docked, hundreds of rockets and piles of boxes of grenades were stacked on the shore as the cargo was unloaded.

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Hamas rockets again hit the major Israeli cities of Beersheba, Ashdod and Ashkelon.

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And with a firefighters' strike looming last week the club feared its clash with FC Ashdod would have to be cancelled.

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Solbar Industries Ltd., Ashdod, Israel, has made several new additions to its marketing team.

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The Royal Australian Air Force recently selected Elta (Ashdod, Israel) as preferred tenderer to provide the EL/L-8222 jamming pod for the service's F-111 aircraft.

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Ayyash said the four fishermen were taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod after the confiscation of three handboats while one of the boats was kept in the middle of a sea.