Key Facts about Khirbat Umm Sabuna

Location of Khirbat Umm Sabuna

Khirbat Umm Sabuna stood at the western edge of the Jordan Valley, directly below the steep escarpment on which Kawkab al-Hawa was located.

The hamlet faced east toward the Jordan River, approximately 3.3 kilometers away. A wadi running northeast from the site and a nearby spring both carried the name Umm Sabuna.

Kawkab al-Hawa was only about two kilometers away, making its military history particularly relevant when reconstructing the probable fate of Umm Sabuna in May 1948.

The Name and the 'Arab al-Saqr / al-Bashatwa Question

Palestine Remembered and several derivative databases refer to the locality as “Khirbat Umm Sabuna ('Arab al-Saqr).”

This designation is partly explained by the 1931 Census of Palestine. The census recorded a larger enumeration unit under the name 'Arab al-Saqr and included beneath it Umm Sabuna, Abu Qarmula, Wadi Shubash, al-Khor, Sdud al-Sharqiyya, Sdud al-Fawqa, and Tall al-Shuqaf.

The census grouping does not by itself demonstrate that every resident of Umm Sabuna belonged to 'Arab al-Saqr, nor does it permit the combined population of the unit to be assigned to Umm Sabuna alone.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Encyclopedia, drawing on Mustafa Murad al-Dabbagh, describes the wider territory of the al-Bashatwa communities in northern Baysan and explicitly connects their settlements and agricultural areas with the khirbas of al-Mazar, al-Zawiya, al-Ziwan, and Umm Sabuna.

This article therefore uses the primary geographical name “Khirbat Umm Sabuna” and treats “'Arab al-Saqr” as a designation connected with Mandate census organization and some later databases rather than as a definitive statement about the tribal affiliation of every inhabitant.

Population of Khirbat Umm Sabuna

The principal sources do not provide a reliable independent population series for Khirbat Umm Sabuna itself.

The 1948 estimate requires particular caution because the earlier 1931 figure displayed on the same page is itself an aggregate covering several localities.

Number of Houses

The 1931 census recorded approximately 85 houses for the broader 'Arab al-Saqr statistical unit, together with its 444 inhabitants.

Because Umm Sabuna was only one of several localities included in that unit, the 85 houses cannot be presented as a village-specific count. Khalidi does not provide an independent house total for Umm Sabuna.

Village Lands

Khalidi and PalQuest do not provide an independent 1944/45 land-ownership or land-use table for Khirbat Umm Sabuna.

Population and land records in this part of the Baysan Valley were sometimes organized around broader tribal or territorial units. Figures belonging to 'Arab al-Saqr, al-Bashatwa, or neighboring Kawkab al-Hawa should therefore not be reassigned to Umm Sabuna without independent cadastral documentation.

No unsupported village-specific ownership or agricultural-use table has been constructed in this article.

Economic Life

Khalidi's village entry does not provide independent crop or agricultural-acreage statistics for Umm Sabuna.

The wider northern Baysan Valley depended heavily on farming and pastoralism. The Palestinian Encyclopedia records that the al-Bashatwa communities in this broader geographical zone cultivated cereals, vegetables, and fruit trees, particularly bananas, and also used part of their territory as seasonal grazing land.

Those figures and descriptions relate to the wider al-Bashatwa area and have not been converted into village-specific statistics for Umm Sabuna.

Water and 'Ayn Umm Sabuna

A spring beside the hamlet carried the name 'Ayn Umm Sabuna, and the nearby wadi running northeast from the site also took its name from the locality.

The principal sources do not provide quantitative information concerning the spring's discharge or the precise acreage irrigated from it.

Education and Public Institutions

Neither Khalidi nor PalQuest documents an independent school at Khirbat Umm Sabuna, and no reliable enrollment or founding-year data are available.

The principal village entry likewise does not independently document a mosque, market, or other public institution specific to the hamlet.

Given its small size and classification as a hamlet, institutions belonging to neighboring villages or broader tribal communities should not be transferred to Umm Sabuna without direct evidence.

Archaeological Remains

Fragments of ancient pottery were scattered over the village site.

Foundations of older buildings also protruded from the soil, indicating that the locality had been inhabited during earlier historical periods.

Khalidi's entry does not provide a precise archaeological chronology for these remains, so they have not been assigned to a specific era without specialist evidence.

Operation Gideon

The Haganah's Golani Brigade carried out Operation Gideon between 10 and 15 May 1948. The campaign targeted Baysan and its valley and resulted in the depopulation of numerous Palestinian communities.

PalQuest explicitly lists Khirbat Umm Sabuna among the localities affected by Operation Gideon.

There is, however, an important chronological nuance. PalQuest formally dates Operation Gideon to 10–15 May, while the Umm Sabuna village entry reconstructs its likely occupation by comparison with neighboring Kawkab al-Hawa, which was contested and occupied during the period between 16 and 21 May.

The most precise formulation is therefore that Umm Sabuna fell in the context of Operation Gideon and the immediate continuation of the Golani Brigade's Baysan Valley campaign, rather than forcing its occupation into a specific day within the operation's formal dates.

Occupation and Depopulation

Khalidi's entry contains no independent account of a battle inside Khirbat Umm Sabuna and does not establish an exact day of occupation.

Its location and the fate of neighboring Kawkab al-Hawa suggest that the hamlet was occupied in the second half of May 1948. Kawkab al-Hawa, only about two kilometers away, experienced several phases of fighting between 16 and 21 May as Iraqi forces entered this front and attempted to regain positions west of the Jordan River.

Khalidi considers it probable that Umm Sabuna's population was driven out at approximately the time the hamlet was occupied.

Palestine Remembered gives 21 May as the occupation date, identifies Operation Gideon and the Golani Brigade, and classifies the immediate cause of exodus as the influence of the fall or departure of a neighboring locality.

Because 21 May is not independently established in the principal village narrative, this article uses the more cautious formulation: occupation probably occurred during the second half of May 1948, likely within the 16–21 May period associated with the fighting around Kawkab al-Hawa.

The Golani Brigade is documented as the principal formation responsible for Operation Gideon and the broader Baysan Valley campaign. No specific Golani battalion is independently identified as the unit that entered Umm Sabuna itself.

Ethnic Cleansing

Palestine Remembered describes the final outcome at Umm Sabuna as complete ethnic cleansing.

Khalidi's more specific village account states that the inhabitants were probably driven out around the time of occupation in May 1948. The directly documented conclusion is therefore the complete disappearance of the Palestinian community from the site and the probability of expulsion during occupation, while the term “ethnic cleansing” remains attributed to the source that explicitly applies it.

Occupation Chronology

1. 01
   10 May 1948

   Beginning of Operation Gideon

   The Golani Brigade began its campaign for control of Baysan and the Baysan Valley.

2. 02
   15 May 1948

   Formal end of Operation Gideon

   PalQuest formally dates the operation to 10–15 May and lists Umm Sabuna among the affected localities.

3. 03
   After 15 May 1948

   Arrival of Iraqi forces on this front

   Iraqi troops entered the sector and attempted to recover positions, with limited territorial success.

4. 04
   16–21 May 1948

   Fighting around Kawkab al-Hawa

   The neighboring village, only about 2 km away, experienced several phases of fighting and control.

5. 05
   Second half of May 1948

   Probable occupation of Umm Sabuna

   Khalidi reconstructs the occupation within this period; Palestine Remembered gives 21 May, but the exact day is not independently established.

6. 06
   Probably at the time of occupation

   Depopulation

   Khalidi considers it probable that the inhabitants were driven out when the hamlet was occupied.

7. 07
   Precise date not documented

   Destruction

   The settlement was destroyed, leaving only stone rubble at the site.

Israeli Settlements and Khirbat Umm Sabuna's Lands

Khalidi and PalQuest identify no Israeli settlement as having been established directly on Khirbat Umm Sabuna's village lands. After the Nakba, those lands were combined with those of Kawkab al-Hawa.

Neve Ur should therefore not be described as a settlement established directly on the built-up site of Umm Sabuna, even though it later used part of the village lands.

Khirbat Umm Sabuna Today

According to Walid Khalidi's field description, only stone rubble remained at the village site.

An orchard belonging to Neve Ur occupied part of the former village lands, while the higher ground surrounding the site was being used for grazing.

This description derives from fieldwork undertaken before the publication of All That Remains in 1992. It is therefore a documented historical description rather than a comprehensive direct field verification of Khirbat Umm Sabuna's condition in 2026.

Sources

• PalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question: Khirbat Umm Sabuna
• PalQuest – Operation Gideon
• PalQuest – Kawkab al-Hawa, for the military chronology of the immediate area
• Palestine Remembered – Khirbat Umm Sabuna, Baysan District
• Walid Khalidi – All That Remains: Khirbat Umm Sabuna
• Palestinian Encyclopedia – al-Bashatwa, drawing on Mustafa Murad al-Dabbagh
• Government of Palestine – Census of Palestine 1931, Baysan Sub-District
• Institute for Palestine Studies – All That Remains, Walid Khalidi