Kharas

Kharas ( ar, خاراس) is a Palestinian town in the southern State of Palestine, located twelve kilometers northwest of Hebron, part of the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 10.210 inhabitants in 2019.2007 PCBS Census
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118. It is situated at the northern mouth of the Wadi ’Arab near the ruins of 'Elah. Nearby towns include Nuba and Beit Ula to the south, Surif to the north and Halhul to the east. It has a total land area of 6,781 dunams.

History

In the late Ottoman era, in 1838, Edward Robinson noted Kharas S 14° E from Bayt Nattif. It was further noted as a Muslim village, between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of Hebron.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
117
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Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that ''Charas'' had 38 houses and a population of 120, though the population count included men, only. Hartmann found that ''Charas'' had 40 houses.

In 1883, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described Kharas as "a small village standing high on the side of one of the lower hills, with olives round it. On the east is a well." C.R. Conder of the PEF thought that the neighboring "thickets" or woodlands of Kharas may have been the "forest of Hereth" described in , and where the fugitive king of Israel, David, hid himself from King Saul.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kharas had a population of 577, all Muslim, increasing in the 1931 census to 739, still all Muslim, in 153 houses.Mills, 1932, p
33

In the 1945 statistics the population of Kharas was 970 Muslims, and the land area 6,781 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 615 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,532 for cereals, while 38 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

File:Nuba 1945.jpg, Kharas, British Mandate map, 1:20,000
File:Surif 1945.jpg, Kharas 1945 1:250,000

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreementsian rule from 1948 until 1967. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,264 inhabitants in Kharas.

Post 1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Kharas has been under Israeli occupation.

Israel has confiscated approximately 2,000 dunums of the village land, half of which was used for the construction of the separation wall. After completion of the wall, 600 dunums of village land will be on the Israeli side of the wall (in the Seam Zone), isolated from the village.

There are five schools in the town: a boy's secondary school, a girls' secondary school, Khaled ibn al-Walid basic mixed primary school, a girls' primary school and a mixed gender high school. There are four mosques, a sports club, a government-run health clinic and an olive press (olive oil manufacturing is a major industry in the town).About Kharas Town and Municipality

References

Bibliography

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External links

Kharas website (Kharas website)

Kharas
Welcome to Palestine
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21
IAAWikimedia commonsKharas Town (Fact Sheet)
Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
Kharas Town Profile
ARIJ
Kharas aerial photo
ARIJ
The priorities and needs for development in Kharas town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment
ARIJ
{{Hebron Governorate

Towns in the West Bank
Hebron Governorate
Municipalities of the State of Palestine
Valley of Elah