During WW1 (on 25 September 1918), a nocturnal battle was fought at Semakh between the Australian 4th Light Horse Regiment (General Allenby’s troops) and a mixed force of Turks and Germans. This battle was among the last recorded nighttime battles in modern warfare history, and changed the “ownership” of the Land of Israel (from Ottoman to British).
In 1920, the Semakh Railway Station and Jordan Valley settlements were attacked by Bedouins from Trans-Jordan.
In May 1948 (during the Israeli War of Independence), Syrian tanks charged the Jordan Valley settlements, mainly Kibbutz Degania. The Samekh railway station was the first site occupied by the Syrian forces.
On 16 June 1946, the Jasser El-Hawa bridge over the Yarmouk River was blown up, stopping rail movement to Trans-Jordan and Syria. The destruction of three additional small bridges in March 1948 put an end to the operation of the Valley Train and the Semakh railway station.
In 2011, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites, Kinneret Academic College and Israel Railways embarked on restoration and conservation of the abandoned station buildings. In September 2015, the restored buildings became part of the Kinneret Academic College campus as well as a unique tourism site open to the public.