This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.Hamat Gader (Hebrew: חַמַּת גָּדֵר; Imperial Aramaic: חמתא דגדר, hammata degader; Ancient Greek: Ἑμμαθά, Emmatha or ῎Αμαθα, Amatha;[1] Arabic: الحمة السورية al-Hamma) is a hot springs site in the Yarmuk River valley, located in an area under Israeli control, near the Golan Heights and the border with Jordan.

[5] The ruins of the ancient city of Gadara stand south of Hammat Gader,[4] on the plateau edge above the springs, in modern Umm Qais.

[citation needed] The Arabic name Al-Hammeh or El-Hamma dates back to the medieval period[4] and also relates to "hot springs".

[vague][citation needed] Construction of the bath complex began in the 2nd century by the 10th Roman Legion, which was garrisoned in the city of Gadara.

The main prayer hall, nearly square at 13 meters per side, boasted two rows of columns, an apse, and a bema set into the southern wall.

[2] The empress Aelia Eudocia composed a poem praising the qualities of the multiple springs which was inscribed so that visitors could see it as they went into the pool.

Some of the buildings including the famous thermae were damaged by an earthquake and restored in 663 by the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiyah who ruled from Damascus.

[16][17] However, Israel thought the Arab villagers could pose a security threat, and Israeli settlers and settlement agencies coveted the land.

[16] On April 4, 1951, a two-vehicle military patrol set out for Hamat Gader in order to assert Israeli sovereignty over the site, over the objections from the Northern Command that Syria was likely to attack it.