al-Qubayba

The village of Al-Qubayba was built on a sedimentary elevation in the central coastal plain. A connecting route linked it to the main coastal road located to its west, which led to Gaza, al-Ramla, and other towns.

In the late 19th century, Al-Qubayba was described as a mud-brick village situated on a rise of land, surrounded by cultivated orchards and fields bordered with cactus hedges. During the British Mandate period, houses were constructed from mud brick or stone and were closely packed together. In contrast, homes built in the period just before the war were more spaced apart.

The village contained a small market, a mosque, and a primary school. The school, established in 1929, had an agricultural annex of 12 dunums, where students were taught the basics of scientific farming. During the 1945–1946 school year, it had an enrollment of 144 students. The entire population of the village was Muslim.

By 1945, approximately 900 Bedouins had settled in the vicinity of the village. Agriculture was the main source of livelihood for its residents, who cultivated fruits—particularly citrus—along with vegetables and grains. In 1944/1945, the village had:

4,639 dunums allocated to citrus and bananas

2,972 dunums for grains

1,143 dunums irrigated or used for orchards

Irrigation water was sourced from artesian wells and from the Nahr Rubin river.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing of the Village

According to a report by the Associated Press, citing an official statement from the Israeli military command, Al-Qubayba was occupied on May 19, 1948. However, Israeli historian Benny Morris states that the village was likely captured about a week later, on May 27, 1948, during Operation Barak, conducted by the Giv’ati Brigade, under the command of Shimon Avidan. According to Morris, Avidan preferred to take over “empty villages only.”

At the same time that the Israeli army was seizing Al-Qubayba, the Irgun militia was reportedly involved in an attempt to storm al-Ramla, located a few kilometers to the northeast. Al-Qubayba, along with the village of Zarnuqa, was captured in a four-hour battle, according to The New York Times.

Morris notes that the destruction of Al-Qubayba became a matter of controversy during an Israeli cabinet session in June 1948. The level of destruction appears to have been significant, prompting Bechor-Shitrit, the Minister of Minority Affairs, to raise the issue during the June 20 session. Some objections to the demolition of this and other villages were based on financial concerns.

Yitzhak Gvirtz, Director of the Department of Absentee Property in the Custodian of Abandoned Properties (Ministry of Finance), wrote to Shitrit, acknowledging, “Let us assume that we do not want the Arabs to return to these villages,” but then proceeded to highlight the economic waste caused by the indiscriminate destruction. He questioned why no effort had been made to salvage doors, window frames, roof tiles, and other reusable building materials.

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion reportedly agreed to open an investigation into the matter. However, the results of that investigation were never disclosed.

The Village Today

The ruins and crumbling walls of Al-Qubayba are now intermingled with buildings belonging to two Israeli settlements established on the site. A former water reservoir has been repurposed as a waste dump. Some village houses still stand. One surviving house, now inhabited by Jewish residents, is of medium size, built of stone, and features visible support beams through its exterior walls. Another house has been converted into a restaurant.

Part of the former school building also remains—it is a long structure with rectangular windows and doors. Cactus hedges, sycamore trees, and a few palm trees can be found on the southern edge of the site.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands

In 1948, the Zionist settlement of Ge’alya was established on the village site. The settlement of Kfar Gevirol was also built in the area—possibly at the same time—as a rural residential zone. In 1949, Kfar HaNagid was established nearby, on land that originally belonged to the adjacent village of Yibna.