Bayt Nattif

The village is located on one of the peaks of the Hebron Mountains’ western region, overlooking the west coast, and facing the eastern mountain range. Beit Nattif is one kilometer north of the Bethlehem main road. Some scholars believe that it was located on the site of Taffuh mentioned in the Old Testament (Joshua 15:34). Its modern name is derived from Beyt Letepha which was given to the site during the Roman era.

According to Ottoman sources from 1596, Beit Nattif was a village in the Jerusalem district (Liwaa al-Quds), inhabited by 572 people who depended on seasonal crops and livestock for a living. They cultivated grains, vegetables, and fruit trees, such as grapes and olives, and paid taxes on agricultural and animal products.

In the late nineteenth century, Beit Nattif towered high on a flat-topped mountain between two spacious valleys and was surrounded by olive groves, while the valleys below it were planted with corn. Its residents obtained drinking water from three wells located on the outskirts of the village. In 1944, a total of 20,149 dunams were allocated to grain, and 688 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards.

The village had a mosque and several shrines, the most prominent of which was the shrine of a sheikh named Ibrahim. It also had an elementary school, and shops spread throughout the neighborhoods.

The village was an archaeological site with caves, cisterns, mosaic floors, and traces of a Roman road. In 1934, Professor Dimitri Baramki of the Mandate Department of Antiquities supervised an excavation of two cisterns; ceramics dating back to the first and third centuries AD were recovered. In addition, twelve ruins were discovered in the vicinity of Beit Nattif.

Occupation and ethnic cleansing of the village

Beit Nattif was occupied by the Fourth Battalion of the Harel Brigade during Operation Hahar. However, there is a contradiction in the Israeli reports between the Palmach and the Haganah regarding the date of the village’s occupation and its events. While the Palmach report states that “the residents fled for their lives” before the Israeli forces reached them, the Haganah reports state that Beit Nattif was occupied “after light resistance.” While the Palmach reports state that the village was occupied on October 21, 1948, the Haganah report states that it was occupied the following day. The History of the “War of Independence” states that “bundles of residents were found in Beit Nattif who intended to leave the village, but did not have the time to take their belongings with them.”

The village enjoys a strategic location on the Bethlehem-Ajjur-Beit Jibrin road, which prompted the Israeli forces to cut off the road after its occupation, paralyzing “the important artery of communication of the Egyptian forces in this sector.” Israeli raids on the Beit Nattif area continued during the months between its occupation and the signing of the armistice agreement in April 1949. Israeli historian Benny Morris argues that the aim was to expel refugees who had come from neighboring villages and who had pitched their tents in the area south of Beit Nattif. The History of the Haganah identifies Beit Nattif as “the village of those who killed the 35,” referring to a column of 35 Palmach soldiers who were crushed after being sent in January 1948 to participate in a battle around some of the settlements in the area. However, the New York Times’ reports at the time indicated that the Palmach unit, part of a shock force, sent to participate in the battle of Kfar Etzion, apparently lost its way and fell into an ambush near the village of Surif. The Arab account states that the Zionist forces deliberately attacked the village and held it for more than an hour before being expelled. The clashes in Surif resulted in the Haganah encircling the three neighboring villages, Beit Nattif, Deir Aban, and Zakaria, in a “punitive campaign” that lasted more than 24 hours. The New York Times correspondent did not disclose the number of casualties.

The Village Today

Heaps of rubble, removed by bulldozers, are scattered over a large area. Six steel pillars stand amid the rubble in the center of the site. The remains of arched house entrances can also be seen among the rubble. Two large graves lie open in the northeast corner, their bones clearly visible. To the east of the site is an area covered, at intervals, with cacti, carob and olive trees.

Zionist colonies on the Village Land

Four colonies were established on the village’s land: Nattif Halmad-He was built in 1949, and Evi Ezer, Roglit, and Neve Michael colonies were all built in 1958.