Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya

Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya
السوافير الغربية
Etymology: The western nomads[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya (click the buttons)
Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya is located in Mandatory Palestine
Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya
Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°41′57″N 34°42′11″E / 31.69917°N 34.70306°E / 31.69917; 34.70306
Palestine grid122/123
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictGaza
Date of depopulationMay 18, 1948 [4]
Area
[3]
 • Total7,523 dunams (7.523 km2 or 2.905 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total1,030[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationFear of being caught up in the fighting
Current LocalitiesMerkaz Shapira,[5] Masu'ot Yitzhak,[5]

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. It was one of three namesake villages, alongside Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya and Al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya.

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 274
  2. ^ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 32
  3. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 46
  4. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #284. Also gives the cause for depopulation.
  5. ^ a b Khalidi, 1992, p. 133