Nahal Qana is an intermittent stream in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, the northernmost tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Yarkon River.

Geography

Nahal Qana begins in the hills of Mount Gerizim

Mount Gerizim

Mount Gerizim is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the West Bank city of Nablus , and forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated,...

, reaches the Sharon plain near Jaljulia

Jaljulia

Jaljulia , officially also spelled Jaljulye, is an Arab town in Israel near Kfar Sava. In 2011, it had a population of 9,000.- History :...

 and empties into the Yarkon just west of the Yarkon interchange (32°7′16.7"N 34°54′13"E on Highway 5

Highway 5 (Israel)

Highway 5, or the Trans-Samaria Highway , is one of Israel's main highways, connecting the Mediterranean coast immediately north of Tel Aviv with the central Sharon plain and eastwards to Ariel and other Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, known under the biblical name Samaria.The name...

).
It runs south of Immanuel

Immanuel (town)

Immanuel is an Israeli settlement and a town with local council status in the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ,...

, Karnei Shomron

Karnei Shomron

Karnei Shomron is an Israeli settlement and local council established in 1977 in the northwestern West Bank, east of Kfar Sava. It is north-east of Tel Aviv and north of Jerusalem. In 2006, the population of Karnei Shomron was 6,300...

, Ma'ale Shomron

Ma'ale Shomron

Ma'ale Shomron , is an Israeli settlement and communal village located about 300 metres above sea level in the northern West Bank in the Samarian hills under the administrative local government of the Shomron Regional Council...

, Alfei Menashe

Alfei Menashe

Alfei Menashe is a Jewish Israeli settlement located in the seam zone on the western edge of the central West Bank. It was granted local council status in 1987. As of 2007, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics counts 6,200 residents...

, Nirit

Nirit

Nirit is a communal settlement in central Israel. Located near Matan and the Horashim forest, it falls under the jurisdiction of Drom HaSharon Regional Council. In 2007 it had a population of 1,100....

, Kfar Saba

Kfar Saba

Kfar Saba , officially Kfar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2009, Kfar Saba had a total population of 83,600.-History:...

, and Hod HaSharon

Hod HaSharon

Hod HaSharon is a city in the Center District of Israel.Officially declared a city in 1990, Hod HaSharon was created from the union in 1964 of four neighboring villages: Magdiel, Ramatayim, Hadar, and Ramat Hadar...

 and north of Yakir

Yakir

Yakir is a Hebrew name. Notable people with the name include:* Iona Yakir, Red Army commander* Peter Yakir, Soviet dissident and historian, see Human rights in the Soviet Union* Yakir Gueron, Turkish rabbi...

, Nofim

Nofim

Nofim is an Israeli settlement located on the western edge of the northern West Bank, about 30 km east of Tel Aviv. The village, under the administrative municipal government of the Shomron Regional Council, is adjacent to Yakir. The Kana Stream passes to the north, west and south...

, Etz Efraim

Etz Efraim

Etz Efraim is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located between Ariel and Rosh HaAyin, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 679....

, Sha'arei Tikva

Sha'arei Tikva

Sha'arei Tikva is an Israeli settlement and a communal village located at an elevation of 200 metres north-east of Rosh HaAyin and one kilometre east of the Green Line near Elkana in the north-western West Bank...

, Oranit

Oranit

Oranit is an Israeli settlement and local council located off Highway 5 adjacent to Kafr Qasim, north of Rosh HaAyin on the western edge of the West Bank. On the Seam Zone, a sizable amount of the town's land is located within the Green Line...

, and Horshim.

History

Nahal Qana served as the boundary between the Tribe of Ephraim

Tribe of Ephraim

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim was one of the Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim also formed the House of Joseph....

 and the Tribe of Manasseh

Tribe of Manasseh

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....

.
In the 1980s, a cave was discovered at Nahal Qana. Pottery sherds from the cave represent three periods: the Pottery Neolithic period (Yarmukian Culture), which includes the earliest pottery assemblage in Israel dating to the second half of the sixth millennium BCE, the Chalcolithic Period and the Early Bronze Age.

Nature reserve

As of 2006, the area around Nahal Qana is being considered as a nature reserve, as requested by the Israel nature and parks authority.