Hurfeish
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Local council (from 1967) | |
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Ḥurp̄eiš |
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  Hurfeish  Hurfeish | |
| Coordinates:33°01′04″N35°20′46″E / 33.01778°N 35.34611°E /33.01778; 35.34611 | |
| Grid position | 182/269PAL |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Northern |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Anwar Amer |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,229 dunams (4.229 km2 or 1.633 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 700 m (2,300 ft) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
• Total | 6,639 |
| • Density | 1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | possibly from "snake"[2] |
Hurfeish (Arabic:حرفيش;Hebrew:חֻרְפֵישׁ; lit. "milk thistle"[3] or possibly from "snake"[2]) is aDruze town in theNorthern District ofIsrael. In 2022 it had a population of 6,639.[1]
The town is situated on an ancient site, wheremosaics and Greek inscriptions have been excavated.[4]
In theCrusader era, Hurfeish was known asHorfeis, Hourfex, Orpheis, orOrfeis.[5] In 1183 it was part of an estate sold fromGeoffrey le Tor to CountJocelyn III.[6] In 1220 Jocelyn III´s daughterBeatrix de Courtenay and her husbandOtto von Botenlauben,Count of Henneberg, sold the estate to theTeutonic Knights.[7] It was listed as still belonging to the Teutonic Knights in 1226.[8]
In 1596 the village appeared under the name ofHurfays in theOttomantax registers as part of thenahiya (subdistrict) of Jira, part ofSafad Sanjak. It had an allMuslim population, consisting of 41 households and 10 bachelors. They paid taxes on goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; but the largest amount was a fixed tax of 6,000akçe; the taxes totalled 6,930akçe. All of the revenue went to aWaqf.[9][10]
In 1838,Harfish was noted as a Christian and Druze village in theEl Jebel district, located west ofSafad.[11]
In 1875Victor Guérin noted an ancient church, used by the 50 Greek Christians in the village. In addition, Hurfeish had 300 Druze inhabitants.[12] In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Hurfeish as "a village, built of stone, containing about 150 Christians, situated on a low ridge, with figs, olives, and arable land. There are fewwells in the village, and four good springs on the south side."[13]
A population list from about 1887 showedHurfeish to have about 645 inhabitants; 115 Christians and 530 Muslims.[14]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Hurfeish had a total population of 412; 386 Druze and 26 Christians.[15] The latter were allMelkites (Greek Catholic).[16] The population increased in the1931 census to 527; 18 Muslims, 35 Christians and 474 Druze, living in a total of 110 houses.[17]
In the1945 statistics, it had a population of 830; 20 Muslims, 30 Christians and 780 classified as "others", (i.e. Druze),[18] with a total of 16,904dunums of land.[19] Of this, 1,039 was plantations and irrigable land, 2,199 was allocated tocereals,[20] while 91 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) land.[21]
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Hurfeish surrendered to the advancing Israeli army duringOperation Hiram, October 1948. AnIDF plan, December 1949, to expel the population was blocked by the Foreign Ministry.[22]
Hurfeish was declared a local council in 1967. According to theIsrael Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) it had a total population of 5,200 in 2006, with a growth rate of 1.9%. As in 2014, the majority of residents wasDruze (96%), with a small number ofChristians (3.2%) andMuslims (0.3%).[23] A large percentage of the population are police and army officers, serving with theIsrael Police and theIsrael Defense Forces.[24][better source needed]
On June 5, 2024, Hurfeish was directly struck by at least two explosive drones launched byHezbollah. 11 people were injured, some of whom sustaining serious injuries.[25][26]
According to the tradition, Sabalan, aDruze prophet, often identified with the BiblicalZebulon, escaped to a cave after he failed to convertHebron residents to the new religion, then he continued to teach the religion and also built by himself a room over the site of the cave. It is located in Hurfeish, on the top of Mount Zvul.[24][better source needed]
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