The depopulated village of Jaba' / District of Haifa

Subdistrict: Haifa

Estimated population of Jaba‘ in 1948: 1,322

Date of occupation and depopulation: Night of 25–26 July 1948

Military operation: Operation Shoter, also known as Operation Policeman

Military force: A special force drawn from the Golani, Carmeli, and Alexandroni Brigades

Israeli settlements established on Jaba‘’s lands before 1948: None

Israeli settlements established on Jaba‘’s lands after 1948: Geva Carmel

Jaba‘ was a Palestinian village situated approximately 18.5 kilometres south of Haifa. It stood at an average elevation of about 50 metres above sea level, on the western slopes of the southern part of Mount Carmel.

The village overlooked the coastal plain surrounding al-Sarafand. The main coastal highway passed approximately 1.5 kilometres east of it. Some scholars have suggested that Jaba‘ stood on or near the site of the Roman locality of Gabata, although this identification is not conclusive.

The village’s predominantly Muslim residents built their houses of stone. In 1885, they established an elementary school for boys.

Boundaries of Jaba‘

Jaba‘ was bordered by the following Palestinian villages:

• North: al-Mazar.
• Northwest: Atlit.
• West: al-Sarafand.
• Southwest: Kafr Lam.
• South: Ayn Ghazal.
• Southeast and east: Ijzim.

Lands of Jaba‘

The lands belonging to Jaba‘ covered a total of 7,012 dunams. They were bordered by the lands of al-Mazar, al-Sarafand, Ayn Ghazal, and Ijzim.

Land Ownership in Jaba‘, 1944/45

* One dunam equals approximately 1,000 square metres.

Land Use in Jaba‘, 1944/45

* One dunam equals approximately 1,000 square metres.

** The olive-grove figure is reported separately and should not be added to the cultivable-land total, because olive land may overlap with the orchard classification.

Population of Jaba‘

In 1596, Jaba‘ had an estimated population of 99. The village paid taxes on crops such as wheat and barley, as well as on goats, beehives, and other forms of agricultural production.

In the late nineteenth century, approximately 150 people lived in Jaba‘. The 1922 British Mandate census recorded 523 residents. By 1931, the population had increased to 762, living in 158 houses. The population was estimated at 1,140 in 1945 and retrospectively projected at approximately 1,322 in 1948.

Population of Jaba‘

The 1948 population and 1998 refugee figures are retrospective demographic estimates rather than contemporary official census counts.

Number of Houses in Jaba‘

The 1931 figure is an official census count; the 1948 figure is a later estimate.

Economic Life in Jaba‘

The village economy depended primarily on animal husbandry and agriculture. Wheat, other cereals, and vegetables were among its principal crops. Residents also cultivated olives and extracted olive oil using a manually operated press.

Approximately 710 dunams were planted with olive trees in 1943. According to the 1944/45 village statistics, 4,207 dunams of Palestinian-owned land were devoted to cereal cultivation, while 450 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards.

Occupation and Depopulation of Jaba‘

The earliest documented attack on Jaba‘ occurred on 26 February 1948, when a large Zionist force arrived in two armoured buses, opened fire, entered a house, and damaged its interior before withdrawing. A possible reconnaissance attack had occurred the previous day. No casualties were reported in these two incidents, although four people were wounded when an armoured vehicle opened fire on two Palestinian buses near Jaba‘ on 5 March.

Jaba‘ remained outside Israeli control for approximately four more months. Together with Ijzim and Ayn Ghazal, it formed the area known as the “Little Triangle,” the largest remaining unoccupied Palestinian pocket within territory otherwise controlled by Israeli forces south of Haifa.

Operation Shoter was launched against the three villages during the second truce. On 24 July, a special force of four platoons drawn from the Golani, Carmeli, and Alexandroni Brigades began its assault. The first attack was repelled. On the following day, the Israeli army subjected the villages to intensive artillery and aerial bombardment.

Israeli forces entered Jaba‘ during the night of 25–26 July. The final military positions were reported under Israeli control on the morning of 26 July. The residents fled or were forced eastward toward Wadi Ara. Benny Morris reports that Israeli forces fired on some of the Palestinians as they fled.

The attack was carried out after the second truce had formally taken effect. Israeli authorities described it as a “police action,” but a subsequent United Nations investigation concluded that it constituted a military attack conducted by land and air and that the inhabitants of Jaba‘, Ijzim, and Ayn Ghazal had been forced to evacuate.

The available evidence therefore supports dating Jaba‘’s occupation and depopulation to the night of 25–26 July 1948 rather than assigning the event exclusively to either day.

United Nations Investigation into the Destruction of Jaba‘

The United Nations investigated the occupation of the Little Triangle following complaints concerning the displacement of its residents and the destruction of the villages. UN observers located more than 8,000 displaced people from the three villages in and around the Jenin area. Their investigation found that fewer than 130 residents of the three villages were dead or missing, although it did not establish a separate casualty figure for Jaba‘.

The investigators found no evidence supporting the broad initial allegations that thousands had been captured or massacred. Israeli authorities nevertheless acknowledged that some residents had been killed or taken prisoner during what they described as a police operation.

The UN Central Truce Supervision Board concluded that Jaba‘, Ayn Ghazal, and Ijzim had been attacked by land and air between 18 and 25 July and that their inhabitants had been forced to leave. It further determined that Jaba‘ and Ayn Ghazal were systematically destroyed by Israeli forces after their evacuation.

In his report to the Security Council, UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte concluded that the attack could not be justified as a police action and that the systematic destruction of Jaba‘ and Ayn Ghazal was excessive and violated both the spirit and the letter of the truce. He called for the villagers to be permitted to return and for their damaged or destroyed houses to be restored at Israeli expense. This recommendation was not implemented.

Archaeological Sites in Jaba‘

The village contained tombs cut into the rock, mosaic fragments, an old well, caves, and the remains of earlier buildings. These remains provide evidence of the site’s long history of human habitation.

In 1930, caves containing evidence of prehistoric habitation were discovered at the entrance to Wadi al-Maghara, less than 2 kilometres north of the village.

Israeli Settlements Established on the Lands of Jaba‘

In 1949, the Israeli settlement of Geva Carmel was established on land belonging to Jaba‘, approximately one kilometre northwest of the former village site.

Shikun Vatikim in Ramat Gan is geographically unrelated to Jaba‘ and was not established on its built-up area or lands. Its inclusion in the original summary resulted from an apparent data-entry error.

Jaba‘ Today

Piles of stone rubble remain visible across the former village site. A religious shrine continues to stand on an elevated section, while the remains of graves can be seen in the surrounding area.

Pine forests grow on adjacent land, parts of which are enclosed by barbed-wire fencing. Some of the land around the former village is used for grazing.

Sources

• PalQuest, “Jaba‘”.
• Institute for Palestine Studies, “Jaba‘ Village”.
• Palestine Remembered, “Jaba‘ — Haifa”.
• United Nations Mediator on Palestine, Progress Report, 16 September 1948.
• United Nations Truce Supervision records, “Villages of Ein Ghazal, Ijzim and Jaba — Case No. 10”.
• Walid Khalidi (ed.), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992.
• Government of Palestine, Census of Palestine, 1922.
• Government of Palestine, Census of Palestine, 1931.
• Government of Palestine, Village Statistics, April 1945.
• Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, consulted for the flight and expulsion of the Little Triangle’s residents and the reported firing on villagers as they fled.