Ni'ilya نعليا | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: from personal name, meaning either "in the form of a horse-shoe" or from a word meaning "sterile, hard, ground"[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Ni'ilya (click the buttons) | |
  Ni'ilya Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°38′46″N34°34′18″E / 31.64611°N 34.57167°E /31.64611; 34.57167 | |
| Palestine grid | 109/117 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Gaza |
| Date of depopulation | November 4–5, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,233dunams (5.233 km2; 2.020 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,310[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Ashkelon[5] |
Ni'ilya was aPalestinian village in theGaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the1948 Arab–Israeli War on November 4, 1948, underOperation Yo'av. It was located 19 km northeast ofGaza in the city territory of modernAshkelon. The village was defended by theEgyptian Army.
Ceramics from theByzantine era have been found here.[6]The village had tombs of people who were killed while battling theCrusades, according to the villagers.[5]The local mosque had an inscription dating to 645AH (1247 CE).[7]
Ni'ilya was inhabited in the 15th century.Mamluk records mention its endowment as awaqf.[8]
Ni'ilya was incorporated into theOttoman Empire in 1517 with the rest ofPalestine, and according to the 1596tax records,[9] the village formed part of thenahiya (subdistrict) ofGaza, part ofGaza Sanjak, with a population of 70 households and 10 bachelors, or an estimated 440 people. All wereMuslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, sesame, as well as on goats, beehives; a total of 20,780akçe.[9][10]
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the area of Ni'ilya experienced a significant process of settlement decline due tonomadic pressures on local communities. The residents of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, but the land continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.[11]Pierre Jacotin may have noted it as an unnamed village on his map from 1799.[12]
In 1863Victor Guérin found it to be a village with 300 inhabitants. The village had a mosque which contained ancient fragments, such as trunks of marblecolumns.[13] An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed thatNa'lija had 39 houses and a population of 111, though the population count included men, only.[14][15]
In 1883 thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Ni'ilya as a village resemblingBarbara. They further noted: "A very extensive olive-grove extends thence toMajdal. On the south is a conspicuous whiteMukam."[16]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Na'lia had a population of 687 inhabitants, all Muslims,[17] while in the1931 census, Na'lia had 169 occupied houses and a population of 893 Muslims.[18]
In the 1930s the village mosque was inspected byMayer from theDepartment of Antiquities. His report said: "Mosque on sand dune outside village on the South (see sketch plan). S. and W. walls entirely covered by sand. Themikhrab is flanked with two marble shafts and inscription on a fragment of column is placed over the column on the left side.Waqf property. The mosque is still in religious use. Inscription in ordinary writing, 8 lines, irregular height of letters. Measurement of the inscription, 0.38m (hgt) by 0.31m breadth over concave surface. Date given 645 AH (1247 CE). The inscription could not be photographed."[7]
In the1945 statistics this had increased to 1310 Muslims,[2] with a total of 5,233 dunams of land.[3] Cultivated lands in the village in 1944–45 included a total of 1,084 dunums used for citrus and bananas, 2,215 dunums for cereals. An additional 1,436 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations,[19] while 29 dunams were built-up, urban, land.[20]
Ni'ilya students attended school inal-Majdal. A school was built in the village in 1948 shortly before the war but never opened.[5] The village also had a mosque.[5]
Ni'ilya was one of the villages named in the orders to theIDF battalions and engineers platoon, that the villagers were to be expelled to Gaza, and the IDF troops were "to prevent their return by destroying their villages". The path leading to the village was to be mined. The IDF troops were ordered to carry out the operation "with determination, accuracy and energy".[21] The operation took place on 30 November. The troops found "about 40" villagers inBarbara and al-Jiyya, "composed of women, old men and children", who offered no resistance. They were expelled toBeit Hanun, in the northern Gaza strip. Eight young men who were found were sent to aPOW camp.[22]
Since the war,Ashkelon has expanded onto village land.[5]
In 1992, the village site was described: "The village has been obliterated, and the site is overgrown with wild plants and a few sycamore trees. One house that had probably been built in a fruit orchard still stands and is currently inhabited by a Palestinian family. It has a flat roof and rectangular windows and door. The land in the vicinity is cultivated by Israeli farmers."[5]
PalestinianHamas spokesman Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout (aka by his nome de guerraAbu Obaida) is initially from Ni'ilya prior to his family's displacement to theGaza Strip in 1948.[23]
