Bayt Thul

The village is located 15.5 kilometers from Jerusalem. It stood on the western summit of a mountain range extending along an east-west axis. The village was built in a rectangular shape, containing shops, a mosque, and a shrine. The inhabitants of Beit Thul were Muslims, the majority of whom worked in cultivating grains, vegetables, olives, and fruit.
Most of the villages situated on both sides of the Jerusalem coastal road east of Ramla, including Beit Thul, were occupied during Operation Nachshon, which began in early April 1948. Although Beit Thul may have been affected by the Deir Yassin massacre, it most likely fell a few weeks later. It is also possible that the village changed hands between the combatants during May and June.
In 1982, the settlement of Netaf was established on the village lands. Today, piles of rubble are scattered over a wide area of the hill. A memorial has been erected at the village site to commemorate Zionist pilots whose plane crashed in this location. Additionally, a forest was planted on the site in recognition of the efforts of Hadassah Canada (Hadassah being the Zionist women’s organization in America, involved in public relations campaigns on behalf of the occupying state and fundraising activities).