Kharruba – Depopulated Palestinian Village of the Ramla Subdistrict

Kharruba was a Palestinian village in the Ramla Subdistrict, situated on flat ground in the central coastal plain approximately 8 kilometers east of Ramla and at an average elevation of about 175 meters above sea level.

The village lay less than four kilometers northeast of the Jerusalem–Ramla highway. Local paths connected it with neighboring villages, particularly 'Innaba, from which secondary roads led directly to Ramla or to the main Jerusalem–Ramla road.

Subdistrict

Ramla

Distance from Ramla

Approximately 8 km east

Average Elevation

Approximately 175 meters

Population in 1931

119

Occupied Houses in 1931

21

Population in 1944/1945

170

Estimated Population in 1948

197 – a later demographic estimate, not an official 1948 census

Estimated Refugees and Descendants in 1998

1,211 – later demographic estimate

Total Land Area

3,374 dunums

Occupation Date

The village was documented as occupied by 10 July 1948; some later registers give 12 July as the final depopulation date

Military Operation

Operation Dani

Executing Military Unit

Yiftach Brigade

Cause of Displacement

Direct military assault, occupation, demolition of houses, and removal of the inhabitants

Extent of Destruction

The village was extensively destroyed and reduced to stone rubble; no reliable numerical destruction percentage is available

Israeli Settlements on Village Land

No Israeli settlements are documented on Kharruba village land

Location

Kharruba stood on flat land in the central coastal plain, east of Ramla.

It was less than four kilometers northeast of the Jerusalem–Ramla highway and was linked by local paths with 'Innaba and other nearby villages.

From 'Innaba, secondary roads led to Ramla either directly or through the main Jerusalem–Ramla road.

Neighboring Villages

Kharruba lay among a group of villages in the Ramla region, including:

• Khirbat Zakariyya to the north.
• Barfiliya to the east.
• Bayt Shanna to the southeast.
• al-Kunayyisa to the south.
• 'Innaba to the southwest.
• Ramla to the west.
• Jimzu to the northwest.

Origin of the Name

Parts of Kharruba's land were covered by woodland containing oak and carob trees.

Walid Khalidi suggests that the village name was probably derived from the Arabic word kharrub, meaning carob.

Later local accounts also associate the name with a particularly prominent carob tree, although the principal historical source only suggests the broader connection with the abundance of carob trees.

Kharruba in the Nineteenth Century

The French traveler Victor Guérin visited the region during the nineteenth century and described Kharruba as a hamlet.

The Mandate-era Palestine Index Gazetteer later classified it similarly as a small hamlet.

By the final years of the British Mandate, however, the village economy and its built-up area were expanding.

Village Houses

Kharruba's houses were principally constructed of adobe and stood relatively close together.

Narrow alleys separated the houses, although the village did not follow a clearly defined geometric plan.

The official 1931 census recorded 21 occupied houses.

No later estimated house count is presented here as an official figure because the securely documented occupied-house total belongs to the 1931 census.

Population

Kharruba's inhabitants were predominantly Palestinian Arab Muslims.

Land Ownership in 1944/1945

Kharruba's total land area was 3,374 dunums.

The official Mandate categories were Arab, Jewish, and Public: 3,373 dunums were recorded as Arab-owned, no land was recorded in the Jewish category, and one dunum was classified as public.

Land Use in 1944/1945

Some reproduced versions of Khalidi's village text give 1,629 dunums for cereals. The statistical table, however, gives 1,620 dunums, which is also the arithmetically consistent figure: 1,620 dunums of cereals plus 25 dunums of plantations and irrigable land equals 1,645 dunums of cultivable land.

Economic Life

Agriculture was the principal economic activity in Kharruba.

The villagers cultivated cereals, vegetables, and fruit, with fruit orchards concentrated to the southwest and northeast of the built-up area.

Kharruba's economy expanded toward the end of the Mandate, while construction activity also increased.

The inhabitants purchased basic necessities in the markets of surrounding villages and sold their agricultural produce there.

Woodland and Trees

Part of Kharruba's territory contained woodland dominated by oak and carob trees.

This vegetation contributed to the character of the local landscape and was probably the source of the village name.

Education and Services

The principal village source reviewed does not document an independent school in Kharruba before the Nakba.

Nor does it identify a specific health institution, mosque, or named water source that can be securely attributed to the village.

No undocumented facility is therefore added to the article.

Operation Dani

Kharruba's occupation was directly associated with Operation Dani, a major Israeli offensive that began on 9 July 1948 and continued until 18 July during the Ten Days of fighting between the First and Second Truces.

The first stage focused on Lydda, Ramla, and their surrounding villages, while the second extended toward the Latrun area and the Jerusalem corridor.

Several Israeli formations participated in Operation Dani at the broader operational level, including the Yiftach, Har'el, Kiryati, Alexandroni, and Etziyoni brigades and the Eighth Armored Brigade.

For Kharruba specifically, however, the direct documentary evidence identifies the Yiftach Brigade.

Occupation of Kharruba

A report issued by the Yiftach Brigade provides unusually direct documentation of the village's occupation.

In a report dated 10 July 1948, the brigade stated that its units had occupied Kharruba during their advance, demolished houses, and cleared the village.

On the following day, Yiftach units received orders to consolidate the positions they had captured and to destroy houses that were not required for military use.

The earliest secure formulation is therefore that Kharruba was under Yiftach control by 10 July 1948.

Why Do Some Sources Give 12 July?

Some later Palestinian statistical registers, including Palestine Remembered and WAFA, give 12 July 1948 as Kharruba's depopulation date.

The Yiftach Brigade report dated 10 July, however, states that the village had already been occupied.

The most precise chronology is therefore:

• Documented military occupation: by 10 July 1948.
• Final depopulation date given in some later registers: 12 July 1948.

The two dates should not be collapsed into one without explaining the difference.

Executing Military Unit

Executing military unit: Yiftach Brigade.

This attribution is stronger than simply identifying one of the many units that participated in Operation Dani because a Yiftach Brigade report itself records the occupation and demolition of Kharruba.

Other brigades participating elsewhere in Operation Dani are therefore not assigned to Kharruba without village-specific evidence.

Occupation and Displacement Chronology

1. 01
   Until early July 1948

   Village before the Offensive

   A small agricultural village east of Ramla, with a population of 170 in 1944/45.

2. 02
   9 July 1948

   Beginning of Operation Dani

   The large Israeli offensive against Lydda, Ramla, and surrounding localities began.

3. 03
   By 10 July 1948

   Documented Occupation of Kharruba

   A Yiftach Brigade report records the village's occupation and the demolition of houses during the advance.

4. 04
   11 July 1948

   Demolition Orders

   Yiftach units were ordered to consolidate captured positions and destroy houses not needed for military accommodation.

5. 05
   12 July 1948

   Depopulation Date in Some Later Registers

   Several Palestinian databases use this as the final displacement date, although military control had already been documented earlier.

6. 06
   Until 18 July 1948

   Continuation of Operation Dani

   Israeli operations continued across the Lydda–Ramla–Latrun region and Jerusalem corridor.

Cause of Displacement

The immediate cause of Kharruba's depopulation was a direct military assault and occupation by Yiftach Brigade units.

The documentary record indicates that houses were demolished during the advance rather than the population leaving solely because of events in neighboring Lydda or Ramla.

Kharruba can therefore be linked directly to a village-specific military action during Operation Dani.

Destruction

Kharruba's houses were blown up during the occupation, and additional demolition orders followed the next day for structures not required by the occupying forces.

Later field descriptions show that the village ceased to exist as a functioning built-up locality and that stone rubble covered the site.

The village can therefore be described as extensively and almost completely destroyed, although no reliable numerical percentage such as 100 percent is available.

Israeli Settlements on Kharruba Land

According to Walid Khalidi and PalQuest, no Israeli settlements were established on Kharruba's village lands.

No nearby settlement should therefore be assigned to the village merely on the basis of geographic proximity.

Kharruba Today

The available site description is based primarily on historical field research incorporated into Walid Khalidi's All That Remains. It is not a direct field verification conducted in 2026.

According to that description, the village site is covered by stone rubble from destroyed houses and overgrown with wild vegetation.

Plants and trees traditionally grown by Palestinians near their homes remained visible, including cactuses, castor-oil plants, cypress, Christ's-thorn, and olive trees.

The surrounding lands were being used as grazing grounds at the time of the historical survey.

Sources

• PalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question: Kharruba
• PalQuest – Operation Dani
• Institute for Palestine Studies – Walid Khalidi, All That Remains
• Palestine Remembered – Kharruba, Ramla
• Palestine Remembered – Kharruba entry from All That Remains
• WAFA – Palestinian Localities Depopulated in 1948