- Az-Zakariyya
Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=az-Zakariyya
imgsize=
caption=
arname=زكرية
meaning="Zachariah"
altSp=al-Zakariya
district=hb
population=1,180
popyear=1945
area=15,320
areakm=15.3
cause=M
curlocl=Zekharia
date=June 9th, 1950Az-Zakariyya or Zakaria ( _ar. زكرية) was a
Palestinian Arab village 25km northwest from the city ofHebron (al-Khalil) in theJudean Mountains that was depopulated in the1948 Arab-Israeli War . It is located on a hill approximately 275 meters above sea level. The streams of WadiAjjur and al-Sarara were located a few kilometers north of the village. The village had a population of 1,180 on 15,320 dunums in 1945. The village was named in honor of the monotheistic prophet Zachariah.History
According to biblical sources the king
David foughtGoliath at the site of modern Zakariyya. It became a town in the Roman provinceSyria Palaestina in which it took the name "Caper Zacharia".During the
1948 Arab-Israeli War the village was defended by theEgypt ianMuslim Brotherhood , theArab Liberation Army and local militiamen. They were defeated and Zakariyya fell toIsraeli forces duringOperation Yoav onOctober 23 ,1948 . Zakariyya remained mostly intact but its population was forced to flee onJune 9 1950 on the orders ofYosef Weitz and the village became the property of theJewish National Fund . The Israelimoshav Zekharia was built on the village's land and is populated mostly by Kurdish or Ukrainian Jews. Most of the former inhabitants were settled in theDheisheh andArroub refugee camps near Bethlehem, although a few remained as internal refugees inIsrael , primarily in the city ofRamla .People from Az-Zakariyya
*
Nasr Abdel Aziz Eleyan External links
* [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Hebron/Zakariyya/index.html Zakariyya Town Statistics and Facts]
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