al-Khisas (Khirbet al-Khisas)

The village of Al-Khisas was located in the northern part of the Hula Plain, on a natural terrace approximately 100 meters wide. This terrace was formed thousands of years ago as a result of the shrinking of the ancient Lake Hula, which once covered the entire Hula Basin. The Hasbani River flowed west of Al-Khisas, cutting its course through the mountains. A secondary road connected the village to a main road leading to Safad and Tiberias, while another secondary road linked it to a nearby village.

The Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1229) described Al-Khisas as one of the villages of Banias in Syria (currently under Israeli occupation). In 1945, the population of the village lived along the Hasbani River, with olive trees planted to the west. In 1944–1945, a total of 1,438 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards. Evidence of habitation at the site before 1900 includes a shrine dedicated to a local sheikh named Ali, as well as several rock-hewn tombs.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing of the Village

Al-Khisas was targeted in a “hit-and-run” attack by the Haganah during the early weeks of the war. On the night of 18 December 1947, members of the Haganah’s strike force raided the village under cover of darkness. They roamed through the village, opened fire, threw grenades, and demolished several homes. According to figures cited by Israeli historian Benny Morris, twelve civilians were killed in the raid, including four children. A report published by The New York Times stated that ten people were killed, including five children, and added that some victims were buried beneath the rubble of their homes. (The Haganah initially denied the killing of children, but a spokesperson later acknowledged it.)

The New York Times report described the attack as a reprisal for the killing of two Jewish colonial police officers in the Safad area. Morris notes that several local Haganah intelligence officers and civilian leaders opposed the planned “retaliatory” operation, but Palmach commander Yigal Allon approved it. A few days later, a Haganah spokesman claimed that one of the demolished houses had served as a base for Syrian and Lebanese forces. He added:

“It is truly unfortunate that children were sleeping in this small military outpost and became victims of such a raid…”

The attack on Al-Khisas was discussed in a high-level meeting of Zionist military and civilian officials held on 1–2 January 1948. Benny Morris summarizes what appeared to be the consensus at that meeting—attended by David Ben-Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency, and Moshe Dayan, who at the time was a relatively junior expert in Arab affairs:

“However repugnant the use of force may be, it is—when taken to extremes—productive in the long term.”

According to Morris, the residents of Al-Khisas fled the village on 25 May 1948, during the final stage of Operation Yiftach, approximately five months after the Haganah’s initial assault. An Israeli intelligence report attributed the villagers’ dispersal to the psychological warfare campaign launched during the operation. However, the displacement appears to have been only partial at first, as some villagers remained in their homes for more than a year after the 1948 war.

On the night of 5 June 1949, the Israeli army forcibly expelled the remaining residents. Military trucks surrounded the village at midnight and forced the villagers to board them, accompanied by kicking, insults, and humiliation, according to a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Mapam party, as cited by Morris. The villagers reported that they were forced to demolish their own homes, and described their treatment as being akin to that of “animals.” They were then unloaded on a sun-scorched hill near the village of Akbara and abandoned “lost in the wilderness, thirsty and hungry.” They lived under miserable conditions for many years thereafter, much like the displaced residents of Qaddita and al-Ja’una, who were reportedly expelled under similar circumstances.

The Village Today

The lands of the former village are now largely covered by forests and grass. Scattered piles of stone, cactus groves, the remains of an old building, and a large arched stone dam can still be found. The agricultural lands once belonging to the village are now cultivated by residents of the HaGoshrim settlement.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands

The settlement of HaGoshrim (Grid Reference 208291), which was established in 1948, before the final expulsion of Al-Khisas residents, lies a few hundred meters south of the village site and is located on its lands.