Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya


Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 18, 1948, during the second stage of Operation Barak. It was located 30 km northeast of Gaza city.

History

Remains of a winepress and a hypocausts, belonging to a bathhouse, both dating to the late Roman era, have been excavated here.
Two cemeteries from the Byzantine era, together with many ceramic remains from fifth–seventh centuries CE have been excavated. Two pool areas, building remains, and parts of a potter’s wheel, all dating to the Byzantine era have also been found. A Greek inscription has been found on a limestone slab, and the remains of a wall, with numerous pottery sherds, dating to the Byzantine period.
Pottery sherds from the Mamluk era has also been found.

Ottoman era

Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with the rest of Palestine, and by the 1596 Daftar, the village formed part nahiya of Gaza under the liwa' of Gaza with a population of 43 households, or an estimated 237 people. All were Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, as well as on goats, beehives; a total of 8,500 Akçe.
In 1838 the three Sawafir villages were noted located in the Gaza district. The western village was noted as "in ruins or deserted,” while the two others were noted as being Muslim.
In 1863 Victor Guérin found in this village a koubbeh consecrated to a Sheikh Muhammed. He noted that many antique building blocks were used in this sanctuary.
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as one of three Suafir adobe villages. Each had small gardens and wells.

British Mandate era

According to the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya had a population of 572 inhabitants, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census when it had an all-Muslim population of 723 in 134 houses.
By the 1945 statistics, this had increased to 1,030 Muslims, with a total of 7,523 dunams of land. Of this, 585 dunums were for plantations or irrigable land, 6,663 dunums were for cereals, while 585 dunams were classified as un-cultivable land.
al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya had shared a school with the other two Sawafir villages, and in 1945 it had an enrollment of about 280.

1948 and aftermath

In early May, 1948, the inhabitants of the three Al-Sawafir villages were ordered not to flee, by the Al-Majdal National Committee.
On May 18, the Givati Brigade for a second time conquered Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya together with Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya. Their operational orders were to: "To conquer the villages, to cleanse them of inhabitants, to take several prisoners.... to burn the greatest number of houses." The Givati troops torched and blew up several houses, however, after they withdrew, the villages returned. At the 23 May 1948, Israeli reports say that at all the three Al-Sawafir villages the inhabitants slept in the fields at night, but returned to work in the villages by day. By late June, both Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya and Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya were again "full of Arabs."
Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel, with the villages of Merkaz Shapira and Masu'ot Yitzhak established on Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya land.