al-Faluja

The village was spread over a hilly area in the coastal plain, and the deep Al-Falujah Valley extended at its eastern and western borders. The village was the heart of a network of public roads leading to Hebron, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, and other centers, 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza and at an average elevation of 100 meters above sea level. In 1945, the population of the village reached 4,670 people, all of whom were Muslims. They had a mosque with three domed porticoes, one of which was the shrine of Sheikh Al-Faluji. In 1922, a municipal council was established in the village, and its incomes were always greater than its expenses. On the eve of the war, the municipal council launched a project to draw water from a well near the village of Julis. The residents of Fallujah worked mostly in rain-fed agriculture, while trade represented the second most important sector in terms of economic importance. A weekly market was held in Fallujah, and was visited by merchants and buyers from all the villages and towns of the region. In addition, the villagers worked in raising animals and chickens, grinding grain, embroidery, knitting, and making pottery. Fallujah had a famous dye shop that attracted customers from all over the region. The displacement
An early attack on the village occurred on March 14, 1948, when a Jewish supply convoy clashed with the residents in a battle during which 37 Arabs and 7 Jews were killed and dozens of Arabs and three Jews were wounded. Another Jewish group returned on the same day with a Haganah explosives squad and blew up ten houses in Fallujah, including the three-story building housing the village council and the post office. At the end of October, Jewish forces surrounded an Egyptian brigade in which Gamal Abdel Nasser served and which was stationed in Fallujah and the neighboring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya. The brigade held out there until February 1949, when it handed over the Fallujah pocket to Israel under the armistice agreement between Egypt and Israel. However, Israel violated the terms of the agreement almost immediately after it was signed, forcing the residents to leave by terror no later than April 21, 1949. Only a few residents chose to go, but within a few days, the local Israeli garrison began beating up residents, stealing their belongings, in addition to attempts of raping according to affidavits of UN observers at the site. There were deliberate acts aimed at forcing more residents to leave the village towards the Hills of Hebron Hills.

Colonization and ethnic cleansing
The Israeli town of Kiryat Gat was established on the lands belonging to Iraq al-Manshiyya and bordering al-Faluja. It has now expanded to include al-Faluja lands as well. Shahar and Nir Hen settlements were established in 1955 on the village lands.

The village today
Today, nothing remains of the village except the foundations of its mosque and some remains of its walls. Accumulated and scattered rubble covers the site of the mosque, and one can see an abandoned well and a pond. A row of eucalyptus trees, cactus, Christ’s thorns, and olive trees grow on the site. Several Israeli government buildings and an airport have been built on the adjacent lands, most of which are cultivated.

Reference: Walid Khalidi, Lest We Forget, pp. 562-565.