Iraq Suwaydan

Iraq Suwaydan
عراق سويدان
Iraq al-Suweidan
View of Iraq Suwaydan village from Israeli machine gun position, November 1948
View of Iraq Suwaydan village from Israeli machine gun position, November 1948
Etymology: "The cavern of Suweidan"[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Iraq Suwaydan (click the buttons)
Iraq Suwaydan is located in Mandatory Palestine
Iraq Suwaydan
Iraq Suwaydan
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°38′55″N 34°41′34″E / 31.64861°N 34.69278°E / 31.64861; 34.69278
Palestine grid121/117
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictGaza
Date of depopulation8 July 1948[4]
Area
[3]
 • Total
7,529 dunams (7.529 km2 or 2.907 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total
660[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Yishuv forces
Current LocalitiesYad Natan,[5] Otzem,[5] Sde Yoav[5]

'Iraq Suwaydan (Arabic: عراق سويدان, Hebrew: עיראק סווידאן) was a Palestinian Arab village located 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Gaza City. It was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav against the defending Egyptian Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The village infrastructure, with the exception of the police station built by the British Mandate authorities, was destroyed.

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 365
  2. ^ Village Statistics, Government of Palestine. 1945, p. 31
  3. ^ a b Village Statistics, Government of Palestine. 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 45
  4. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xx, village No. 380. Also gives the cause for depopulation
  5. ^ a b c Khalidi, 1992, p.109