Matat Colony

Mattat is a small colony located in the north of the occupied Palestinian territories (“Israel”), near the Lebanese border, between the cities of Ma’alot-Tarshiha and Safad. As of 2018, its settler population was 191.

The colony was established in 1979 on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian villages of al-Mansura and Deir al-Qassi.

Al-Mansura was an Arab village located northeast of the city of Acre, approximately 43 km away — 17 km via a primary road and 26 km via a secondary route. It was situated about half a kilometer from the Palestine–Lebanon border, which runs to its north. The village had originally been part of Lebanon until 1923, when it was annexed to Palestine following the demarcation of the border.

Al-Mansura was built on a hillside in the southern part of the Jabal Amil region (present-day Upper Galilee), at an elevation of 680 meters above sea level. To its northwest, about 1.25 km away, lies Tell Abu Bayyin (625 m). North of the village, at just over 1 km distance, runs the Wadi Maswadah, while Wadi ‘Azim lies 1.5 km to the south. Both are tributaries of Wadi Karkaza, which in its lower course is known as Wadi al-Bir. South of the village were three water reservoirs, and to the north, a well.

Deir al-Qassi was a historic Canaanite Palestinian Arab village located in the far northeastern part of the Acre District, situated in the heart of the Upper Galilee. It was also northeast of Acre, about 20 kilometers from the city, and only five kilometers from the Palestine–Lebanon border. Its average elevation was approximately 700 meters above sea level.

Sources:
Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used:

• The settlement’s website (in Hebrew)
• The “Israeli” Central Bureau of Statistics
• Information on the villages of Deir al-Qassi and al-Mansura from the Palestine Remembered website