Welcome To al-Jiyya - الجية (אל-ג'יה)

District of Gaza Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
	Gallery (2)

Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

November 4, 1948

Distance From District

19 (km) North East of Gaza

Elevation

25 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Pre-Nakba Aerial View

Map Location

See location #29 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

Operation Yo'av

Attacking Units

Possibly Giva'ti Brigade

Defenders

Egyptian Army

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

The village was completely obliterated.

Ethnically Cleansing

al-Jiyya inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	8,274
Jewish	0
Public	233
**Total	8,506

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Citrus Groves	189
Irrigated & Plantation	26
Planted W/ Cereal	8,004
Built up	45
Arable	8,219
Non-Arable	242

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
1922	667
1931	899
1945	1,230
1948	1,427
Est. Refugees 1998	8,762

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	188
1948	298

Near By Towns

Bayt Jirja ↖	al-Majdal Asqalan ↑ (N)
Barbara ←	al-Jiyya	→ Bayt Tima
		↘ Hulayqat

Town's Name Through History

The Crusades referred to al-Jiyya by Algie.

Schools

al-Jiyya had no schools, however, its students attended school in the nearby village of Barbara.

Places of Warship

One mosque

Archeological Sites

al-Jiyya contained a stone column and the remains of a Roman mill.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Moshav Ge'a and Beyt Shiqma

Village Before Nakba

The village was situated on a sandy spot, surrounded by hills, on the southern coastal plain. Several wadis descended around it and periodically subjected it to flooding. This perhaps explains its name, which means 'water collector' in Arabic, as well as its circular layout. The village has been identified with a town referred to in Crusader records as Algie. The coastal highway and railway line ran close to the village on its western side. The inhabitants reported that their village had been ruined at one point and then rebuilt by Muhammad Abu Nabbut, the governor of Jaffa and Gaza between 1807 and 1818.

Al-Jiyya's population was Muslim and the village had its own mosque. Children attended school in the neighboring village of Barbara. The villagers installed a pump on one of the wells in the area to draw water for domestic use. The community worked primarily in agriculture, planting various types of grain, especially corn. In 1944/45 a total of 189 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas and 8,004 dunums were allocated to cereals; 26 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Al-Jiyya also was known for its cheese and other dairy products which were sold in Gaza and the city of al-Majdal. Among the archaeological remains found in al-Jiyya were a stone column and the remains of a Roman mill.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Al-Jiyya fell into Israeli hands at the same time as the city of al-Majdal, on 4–5 November 1948. This occurred at the end of Operation Yoav , one of the last major offensives of the war. Like most of the population of the area, the villagers of al-Jiyya probably fled or were expelled to the already over-populated Gaza Strip.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

Moshav Ge'a and Beyt Shiqma were established on village lands in 1949 and 1950, respectively.

Village Today

All traces of the village have been completely obliterated. Some sycamore trees grow on the site. Cantaloupes have been planted by the settlement of Beyt Shiqma on the surrounding lands.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.

Want to browse more? 80,000 pictures were grouped in these gallaries:

Pre-Nakba Aerial view of the village / صورة من الجو للقرية اخذت قبل النكبة

Display Name	Clan/Hamolah	Country of Residence
أبو فجر	شعبان	غزة, فلسطين -الجية
Mahmoud Abed	Abed	Canada
لورد فلسطين	صيام	غزة, الجية
ibrahim shaban	عوض	north gaza, north gaza
ابوعبدالله	عوض	الوسطي, ديرالبلح
Dr-7mo_Od	ابوقاعود	doha, qatar
ابو جميل	سليمان	حائل, السعودية
حسام ابو شنب	ابو شنب	غزة
صلاح درويش	درويش	-
أبو أسامة	درويش	-
تهاني	العبد عوض	عمان, الأردن
دموع الحنان	الشنطي	غزه, غزه
Dr_7mood	-	Doha, Qatar
al-shanti	-	-
محمد صباح	صباح	Gaza
ابو عبدالله	ابو عواد	-
إسماعيل صيام	صيام	-
الصقر	-	-
jehad abu shanab	ابو شنب	doha

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