Jabalia

A large cemetery dating to the 8th century CE was found near Jabalia. The workmanship indicates that the Christian community in Gaza was still very much in existence in the early Islamic era of rule in Palestine, and capable of artistic achievements. The remains of the pavement spared by the iconoclasts show depictions of wild game, birds, and country scenes. The late dating of the mosaic pavement proves that the intervention of the iconoclasts, after 750, is later than previously thought and is associated with Abbasid conservatives.^[3]

While working on the Salah al-Din Road, laborers accidentally uncovered a monastery from the Byzantine period. The site was excavated by the Palestinian Department of Antiquities. Now the stunning Byzantine mosaics of the monastery are covered with sand to shield them from erosion caused by the direct impact of the winter rain.^[4] Byzantine ceramics have also been found.^[5]

In 2022, the restoration of a fifth-century Byzantine church carried out by the French organisation Premiere Urgence Internationale and the British Council was finished. The church is decorated with mosaics and religious texts written in Greek.^[6]

Jabalia was known for its fertile soil and citrus trees. The Mamluk Governor of Gaza Sanjar al-Jawli ruled the area in the early 14th century and endowed part of Jabalia's land to the al-Shamah Mosque he built in Gaza.

Until 2014, Jabalia also had the ancient Omari Mosque. The site was believed to have housed a mosque since the seventh century, and its portico and minaret dated back to the 14th century, but the Omari was destroyed by Israeli bombings in 2014.^[7] The portico consists of three arcades supported by four stone columns. The arcades have pointed arches and the portico is covered by crossing vaults.^[8]

Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, Jabalia appeared in 1596 tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Gaza of the Liwa of Gazza. It had a population of 331 households, all Muslim, who paid taxes on wheat, barley, vine yards, and fruit trees; a total of 37,640 akçe. 2/3 of the revenue went to a waqf.^[9]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Jebalia as a Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.^[10]

In 1863, Victor Guérin found in the mosque fragments of old constructions, and at the well some broken columns.^[11] He further noted: "This village, towards the west, borders on the dunes of the coast. It is surrounded, on the other three sides, by fertile gardens, separated from each other by hedges of cacti and other thorny shrubs. Cultivated with care, they are planted with fig, pomegranate, almond, apricot, lemon and orange trees. There are also a few apple trees. Residents go to sell their fruit in Gaza's various markets."^[12]

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 828, in a total of 254 houses, though the population count included men, only.^[13][14] In the Palestine Exploration Fund's 1883 Survey of Western Palestine, Jabalia was described as being a large adobe village, with gardens and a well on the northwest. It had a mosque named Jamia Abu Berjas.^[15]

 

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jabalia had a population of 1,775 inhabitants, all Muslim,^[16] increasing in the 1931 census to 2,425, still all Muslims, in 631 houses.^[17]

 

In the 1945 statistics, Jabalia had a population of 3,520, all Muslims,^[18] with 11,497 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.^[19] Of this, 138 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 1,009 for plantations and irrigable land, 1,036 for cereals,^[20] while 101 dunams were built-up land.^[21]

During the early months of First Intifada on 27 March 1989 Fares S'aid Falcha, aged 50, was beaten by Israeli soldiers. He died 3 weeks later in the Makassed Hospital. A report was compiled by the Military Police Investigators and details were passed on to the Chief Military Prosecutor.^[22]

In late 2006, Jabalia was the scene of mass protests against airstrikes on homes. Israel contacted the residences of several Hamas members who launched missiles at Israeli civilians from the houses, warning them of an airstrike within the next 30 minutes. Neighbors responded by forming a human shield and successfully stalled the demolition.^[23] In 2021, seven people were killed by a Hamas rocket.

The Jabalia refugee camp, which has been the target of multiple Israeli air strikes during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, was struck again on 31 October.^[24] The Israeli air-strike killed at least 50 Palestinians and trapped more than a hundred beneath the rubble, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.^[25] The Indonesia Hospital said most casualties were women and children.^[26] Gaza Interior Ministry stated the camp had been "completely destroyed," with preliminary estimates of about 400 wounded or dead.^[27] IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed that Israeli fighter jets attacked the refugee camp,^[28] and stated that the attack killed a Hamas commander who led the 7 October attacks, dozens of Palestinian militants, and destroyed Palestinian tunnels.^[29] Hamas claims none of its commanders were present and that Israel was using these claims as an excuse for the attack.^[30] The mayor of Jabalia stated Israel had destroyed 75 percent of Jabalia's water wells.^[31]

The Battle of Jabalia began on 8 November 2023 as part of the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and ended its first phase in late January 2024 with an Israeli withdrawal.^[32] Following this, Palestinian forces and the IDF intermittently clashed in Jabalia.^{[33][34][35][36][37]} A May 2024 IDF offensive into the city ended on 31 May 2024 with an IDF withdrawal after over two weeks of intense fighting and more than 200 airstrikes. Palestinian officials said that 70% of the refugee camp was destroyed. The Israeli military said that it had destroyed over 10 kilometers of underground tunnels that it says the militants used.^[38][39] The Israeli military also said that it had destroyed a number of weapons production sites and rocket launchers.^[38][40] During the weeks-long operation, troops recovered the bodies of seven Israeli hostages.^[38]

Having failed to dismantle Hamas in Jabalia,^[41] the IDF reinvaded the city after four months on 5 October 2024.^[42]

Jabalia's residents have various origins, including the Hauran, Egypt, Bedouin communities, as well as people from Hebron and Jaffa.^[43]

A number of male pseudohermaphrodite births have been reported in Jabalia. Jehad Abudaia, a Canadian-Palestinian pediatrician and urologist, has suggested that consanguinity due to cousin marriages accounts for the prevalence of pseudohermaphrodite births. In the Gaza Strip, pseudohermaphrodite conditions often go undetected for years after birth due to the region's lower standards of medical treatment and diagnostics.^[44]

Jabalia is twinned with:^[45]

•   Ümraniye, Turkey

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jabalia.

• UNRWA Jabalia
• Welcome To The City of Jabaliya
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 19: IAA, Wikimedia commons