Statistic/Fact	Value
Israeli occupation date	October 21, 1948
Distance from district center	8.5 (km) West of Jerusalem
Elevation from the sea	750 (meters)
Map location	See location number #30 on the map
Israeli military operation	Either Operation Dani or Operation Ha'ar
Israeli attacking brigade	Eighth Battalion of the Etziyyoni Brigade
Village defenders	Egyptian Muslim Brotherhoods, some Arab Liberation Army volunteers, and some local Palestinian militia.
Exodus Cause	Military assault by Jewish troops
Village remains after destruction by Israelis	Walaja was completely destroyed, only few deserted and partially destroyed houses remain standing to this date.
Ethnically cleansing by Israelis	al-Walaja inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Village clans or hamolas	In 1850, Walaja was the home village of the powerful Darwish family, which controlled the district of Bani Hasan (Nablus) and ten other villages.
Land ownership before occupation	Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums) Arab 17,507 Jewish 35 Public 166 Total 17,708
Land usage in 1945	Land Usage Type Arab (Dunum) Jewish (Dunum) Irrigated & Plantation 2,136 0 Area planted w/ olives 80 0 Planted W/ Cereal 6,205 22 Built up 31 0 Cultivable 8,341 22 Non-Cultivable 9,301 13
Population before occupation	Year Population 1596 655 1922 910 1931 1,206 1945 1,650 1948 1,914 Est. Refugees 1998 11,754
Number of houses	Year Number of houses 1931 202 1948 320
Schools	One elementary school
Religious institutions	Walaja had a mosque known by the Arba'in Mosque
Nearby wadies & rivers	Walaja is situated on the north side of Wadi al-Sarar.
Water supplies	Many abundant wells around the village, especially in the southern parts of its lands; most of the village crops were watered by irrigation from these wells and springs, see Picture section for details.
Exculsive jewish colonies on town's lands	'Amminadav
Related Maps	خرائط تفصيلية للمحافظة View from satellite Help us map this town at WikiMapia
More Information	Language External Links Arabic PalGates Hebrew Nakba in Hebrew   Nakba-Online

Bibliography and References

Town Today

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:
A few stone houses still stand on the village site. Otherwise, the site is covered with stone rubble, and with almond trees that grow on the western terraces of the village and to the north. A spring in a valley west of the site still flows out of a stone-and-concrete structure. The 1948 Arrnistice line passed through the southern lands of the village. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) built refugee shelters and an elementary school on the land that became part of the West Bank. There is a white marker on the grave of one village woman; her first name, Fatima, is visible on it, but her last name is illegible. The village area is used as an Israeli picnic site; the Israeli Canada Park now lies north of it

• Nakba Oral History Podcast: Interview with Izz al-Din Khalifah
• Nakba Oral History Podcast: Interview with Khalil Hussein