The depopulated village of 'Ayn Ghazal / District of Haifa

Subdistrict: Haifa

Estimated population in 1948: 2,520

Date of occupation and depopulation: 26 July 1948; some Palestinian testimonies place the final fall during the night of 26–27 July.

Military operation: Operation Shoter

Military units: Alexandroni Brigade, supported by units from the Golani and Carmeli brigades

Israeli settlements established on village land before 1948: None

Israeli settlements established on village land after 1948: Ofer

Israeli settlements established on the village’s built-up site: None

Ayn Ghazal was a depopulated Palestinian village in the Haifa Subdistrict, situated approximately 21 kilometres south of Haifa. Its population was recorded as 1,046 in 1922 and 2,170 in 1945. By 1948, the village population was estimated at approximately 2,520.

Ayn Ghazal was one of the three Palestinian villages—together with Ijzim and Jaba'—that formed the area known as the Little Triangle. The three villages resisted repeated military assaults before their occupation and depopulation during Israel’s occupation of Palestine—the Nakba—in July 1948.

• The village was located approximately 21 kilometres south of Haifa.
• Before 1948, Ayn Ghazal stood along the edges of a valley on the upper western slopes of Mount Carmel. It was close to the main coastal road connecting Haifa with Yafa, which gave the village considerable strategic importance in 1948.
• In the late nineteenth century, Ayn Ghazal was described as a village whose houses were constructed mainly of stone and mud.

Boundaries of Ayn Ghazal

Ayn Ghazal lay amid the following Palestinian villages and localities:

• To the north: Jaba'.
• To the northwest: al-Sarafand.
• To the west: Kafr Lam.
• To the southwest: al-Tantura.
• To the south: al-Furaydis.
• To the southeast: Zammarin.
• To the east and northeast: Ijzim.

Land of Ayn Ghazal

The registered land area of Ayn Ghazal amounted to 18,079 dunams. This total included land under Palestinian and Jewish ownership, as well as public land. Approximately 1,400 dunams were planted with olive trees in 1942/43.

Population of Ayn Ghazal

• A late nineteenth-century account estimated that Ayn Ghazal had approximately 450 inhabitants. Another estimate of 290 residents has been attributed to around 1870; estimates for this period therefore vary between sources.
• The British Mandate census of 1922 recorded 1,046 inhabitants.
• In 1931, Ayn Ghazal and the nearby locality of al-Sawamir had a combined population of 1,439: 685 males and 754 females. The population was entirely Muslim and occupied 247 houses.
• The population reached 2,170 in 1945 and was estimated at approximately 2,520 in 1948, shortly before the village was occupied and its inhabitants displaced.

Population of Ayn Ghazal by Year

* The 1931 figure includes the inhabitants of al-Sawamir. The figures for 1948 and the refugee population in 1998 are demographic estimates rather than contemporary census counts.

Number of Houses in Ayn Ghazal

* The 1948 figure is an estimate rather than a contemporary housing census.

Economic Life in Ayn Ghazal

The village economy was based principally on agriculture and livestock raising. Olive trees covered approximately 1,400 dunams in 1942/43. According to the 1944/45 village statistics, 8,896 dunams were devoted to cereal cultivation, including 8,472 dunams under Palestinian ownership and 424 dunams under Jewish ownership. Another 1,486 dunams under Palestinian ownership were irrigated or used for orchards.

Ayn Ghazal's proximity to Haifa also enabled some villagers to work in the city's port, commercial centre, and service sector.

Land Ownership in Ayn Ghazal

* One dunam equals approximately 1,000 square metres.

Land Use in Ayn Ghazal, 1944/45

* One dunam equals approximately 1,000 square metres.

The approximately 1,400 dunams planted with olive trees formed part of the land classified as irrigated land and orchards and should not be added separately to the totals.

Public Facilities in Ayn Ghazal

• An elementary school for boys and another for girls.
• A cultural and sports club.
• The shrine of Shaykh Shahada, a locally revered religious figure.

Occupation and Depopulation of Ayn Ghazal

On 14 March 1948, an armed Zionist attack reportedly destroyed four houses in Ayn Ghazal. The inhabitants subsequently resisted several attempts to enter the village. Ayn Ghazal, Ijzim, and Jaba' remained a Palestinian-held enclave south of Haifa after most surrounding villages had been occupied.

A further assault was launched on 17 July, but the defenders of Ayn Ghazal and Jaba' repelled the attacking forces. The principal offensive began on 24–25 July as part of Operation Shoter. Units of the Alexandroni Brigade, supported by forces from the Golani and Carmeli brigades, subjected the Little Triangle villages to aerial bombing, artillery shelling, and ground attacks.

Despite intense resistance, Ayn Ghazal was occupied on 26 July 1948. Palestinian testimony published by the Institute for Palestine Studies places the final fall of the village during the night of 26–27 July. The difference appears to reflect whether the date refers to the capture of the main military positions or the final entry into and control of the village.

The operation was conducted after the second truce had formally taken effect. A subsequent United Nations investigation concluded that the military assault was unjustified in view of the truce and the villagers' offer to negotiate. United Nations observers also documented extensive and systematic demolition in Ayn Ghazal and Jaba'. The displaced inhabitants were prevented from returning and sought refuge in Jenin and other parts of Palestine and the wider region.

Israeli Settlements on the Land of Ayn Ghazal

Ofer was established in 1950 on land belonging to Ayn Ghazal, approximately two kilometres southeast of the destroyed village site.

Ayn Ayala was established in 1949 about three kilometres southeast of the village. Although some sources associate it with Ayn Ghazal, Walid Khalidi's documented land survey states that it was not established on land registered to the village. It should therefore not be listed as an Israeli settlement built on Ayn Ghazal's land.

Ayn Ghazal Today

Only the deteriorating shrine of Shaykh Shahada remains standing at the village site. Ruined walls and piles of stone are scattered throughout the area, alongside rows of pine trees, fig and pomegranate trees, and cactus plants. The site has been fenced and is used for livestock grazing. Vegetables, bananas, and other fruit are cultivated on the adjoining level land, while almond trees have been planted on some of the surrounding slopes.

Sources

• Institute for Palestine Studies, “‘Ayn Ghazal Between Memory and Return”.
• Walid Khalidi, ed., All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992, pp. 147–148.
• Palestine Remembered, “‘Ayn Ghazal, Haifa”.
• Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, Village Statistics, April 1945, British Mandate administration.
• Government of Palestine, Census of Palestine, 1931: Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas.
• United Nations archival report, “Villages of Ein Ghazal, Ijzim and Jaba—Case No. 10”.