However, Hanita was a special project, the largest of the entire operation and led directly by Yitzhak Sadeh, a top military leader of the Yishuv (Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine).

Due to the 1937 Peel Commission report, the Yishuv leadership under David Ben-Gurion thought the partition of Palestine to be imminent, with the borders to be decided through diplomacy, and with no Jewish foothold the Western Galilee would remain out of bounds.

Hanita was one of the new Jewish settlements established in the area, with an additional defensive role, as it sat directly on the border with Lebanon, which was at the time controlled by France.

[2][3][4] During the 2023 war between Hamas and Israel, northern Israeli border communities, including Hanita, faced targeted attacks by Hezbollah and Palestinian factions based in Lebanon, and were evacuated.

Its main source of income comes from two factories: Kotlab produces metalized films for packaging, heat and cold insulation, and use in safety devices.