Khirbat al-Jawfa' was a Palestinian Arab village that was depopulated during the

1948 Arab–Israeli war The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

Location

The village was situated west of

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

, on the top of a small circular plateau that extended from the northern slope of a mountain (Jabal Faqqu'a). It overlooked the Jordan Valley to the north and northeast, and was linked by a dirt path to the village

Tall al-Shawk Tall al-Shawk ( ar, تل الشوك), was a Palestinian village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 12, 1948, as part of Operation Gideon. It was ...

in District of Baysan.Khalidi, 1992, p. 333

History

British period

In the British mandate period the village was classified as a hamlet by the ''Palestine Index Gazetteer''. It was probably occupied by the forces of the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גּוֹלָנִי) is an Israeli military infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigade ...

as part of Operation Gideon on 12 May 1948. Most of its population fled to

and its surrounding areas after the Israeli forces overtook the city of

Bisan In Malaysian folklore, the Bisaan (meaning "woman") is a female nature spirit or deity widely venerated among the Malay and Jakun natives. It is believed that every species of tree has a unique spirit presiding over it, and the Bisan is said t ...

on 15 May 1948.

Israeli period

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the 1948 armistice line separating Israel from the West Bank fell a short distance to the west of Khirbat al-Jawfa, cutting through the land of the nearby village of Faqqu'a (in the West Bank). The land of this village that was inside Israel have been combined with the land that belonged to Khirbat al-Jawfa, making the two indistinguishable. The

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

of Ma'ale Gilboa, founded 1962, is located inside this amalgamated parcel of land, southwest of the village site. Khalidi described the village remaining structures in 1992 as: "Although sections of some walls still stand, most of the former houses have been reduced to rubble. The entire area has been fenced in and is used as a grazing area for cows. A large water tank belonging to kibbutz Ma'ale Gilbo'a is on the site".

References

Bibliography

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External links and references

Welcome to al-Jawfa,-KhirbatKhirbat al-Jawfa
at Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 9:
IAAWikimedia commons
at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Khirbat al-Jawfa
from Palestine Family. {{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Jenin Former populated places in the State of Palestine Former populated places in Israel