# Hatta, Gaza

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This article is about the former Palestinian village in the Gaza district. For other uses, see [Hatta](/source/Hatta_(disambiguation)).

**Hatta** (Arabic: حتا) was a [Palestinian Arab](/source/Palestinian_people) village of 1,125 inhabitants that was depopulated after a July 17, 1948 assault by Israeli forces of the [Givati Brigade](/source/Givati_Brigade) during the [1948 Arab-Israeli war](/source/1948_Arab-Israeli_war).[6][7] Following the war the area was incorporated into the [State of Israel](/source/Israel) and [Zavdiel](/source/Zavdiel) and [Aluma](/source/Aluma) were established on the land that had belonged to Hatta.

## Location

The village was situated in a flat area on the southern coastal plain. It was probably named after the al-Hut tribe, originally from [Najd](/source/Najd) in central Arabia, who camped near the site at the end of the fifth century A.D.[8]

## History

The Arab geographer [Yaqut al-Hamawi](/source/Yaqut_al-Hamawi) (d. 1228) referred to the village as Hattawa and said it was the home of the Islamic scholar ´Amru al-Hattawi.[8]

The village's residents came from [Egypt](/source/Egypt), [Transjordan](/source/Transjordan_(region)) and the [Hejaz](/source/Hejaz).[9]

### Ottoman era

Hatta, like the rest of [Palestine](/source/Palestine_(region)), was incorporated into the [Ottoman Empire](/source/Ottoman_Empire) in 1517, and in the [tax registers](/source/Defter) of 1596 it appeared under the name of *Hatta as-Sajara* as being in the *[nahiya](/source/Nahiya)* of Gazza, part of the [Sanjak of Gaza](/source/Sanjak_of_Gaza). It had a population of 15 households, all [Muslim](/source/Muslim). The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, sesame, goats and/or beehives; a total of 5,600 [akçe](/source/Ak%C3%A7e).[10]

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the area of Hatta experienced a significant process of settlement decline due to [nomadic](/source/Nomad) pressures on local communities. The residents of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, but the land continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.[11]

[Edward Robinson](/source/Edward_Robinson_(scholar)) passed by the village in 1838, and described its houses as being made of [adobe](/source/Adobe) bricks.[12] It was also noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza district.[13]

In 1863 [Victor Guérin](/source/Victor_Gu%C3%A9rin) visited the village, which he estimated to have 600 inhabitants. He noticed that beside the well were four barrels of broken [columns](/source/Columns), three gray-white [marble](/source/Marble), and the fourth of bluish marble. The latter, placed horizontally at the orifice was deeply furrowed by the rope that animals or men had used to raise the water. In a [oualy](/source/Maqam_(shrine)) dedicated to Neby Amran he noticed some stones with the same ancient look. Around the village were large plantations of tobacco, here and there also stood several groups of beautiful pine, olive and fig trees.[14]

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Hatta had 78 houses and a population of 211, though the population count included only men.[15][16]

In 1883 the [PEF](/source/Palestine_Exploration_Fund)'s *[Survey of Western Palestine](/source/PEF_Survey_of_Palestine)* (SWP) described the village as being surrounded by gardens, some of which contained a few [tamarisk](/source/Tamarisk) trees. SWP also wrote that the name *Hatteh* preserved the name of the [Hittites](/source/Hittites).[17]

### British Mandate era

In the [1922 census of Palestine](/source/1922_census_of_Palestine), conducted by the [British Mandate authorities](/source/Mandate_for_Palestine), Hatta had a population of 570 Muslims,[18] increasing in the [1931 census](/source/1931_census_of_Palestine) to 646, still all Muslim, in 140 houses.[19]

In the [1945 statistics](/source/Village_Statistics,_1945) Hatta had a population of 970 Muslims,[3] with 5,305 [dunams](/source/Dunam) of land, according to an official land and population survey.[4] Of this, 4 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 5,108 used for cereals,[20] while 45 dunams were built-up land.[21]

### 1948 and after

Hatta was captured on July 17–18, 1948, during [Operation Death to the Invader](/source/Operation_Death_to_the_Invader), the last operation of the Ten Days period—the period between the two ceasefires of the [1948 Arab–Israeli War](/source/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War).[22] Following the war the area was incorporated into the [State of Israel](/source/Israel) and in August 1948 a [moshav](/source/Moshav) named [Revaha](/source/Revaha) was slated to be built on the site. However, the plan was not implemented until 1953. Another moshav, [Zavdiel](/source/Zavdiel) was established in 1950 on village land, while [Aluma](/source/Aluma) was founded on village land in 1965.[5] [Qomemiyyut](/source/Qomemiyyut) and [Rewacha](/source/Rewacha) are both close by, but not on village land.[5]

[Walid Khalidi](/source/Walid_Khalidi) described the village site in 1992: "A small portion of the site is covered by a forest, planted by Israelis. The debris of houses are scattered under the trees. [Sycamore](/source/Ficus_sycomorus) trees and cactuses also grow on the site. The surrounding lands are cultivated. The British built military airport is still in use."[5]

## See also

- [Operation An-Far](/source/Operation_An-Far)
- [Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel](/source/Depopulated_Palestinian_locations_in_Israel)

## References

1. personal name, according to Palmer, 1881, p. [367](https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/367/mode/1up)

1. Morris, 2004, p. [xix](https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&l&pg=PR19) village No. 301 Also gives the cause for depopulation

1. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [31](http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p31.jpg)

1. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. *Village Statistics, April, 1945.* Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [45](http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Gaza/Page-045.jpg)

1. Khalidi, 1992, p. 101

1. ["Welcome to Hatta"](http://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Hatta/index.html). Palestine Remembered. Retrieved 2007-12-03.

1. [Operation An-Far](/source/Operation_An-Far)

1. Khalidi, 1992, p. 100

1. Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in **Shomron studies**. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 381

1. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 147

1. Marom, Roy & Taxel, Itamar (2023-01-01). ["Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalān's hinterland, 1270 – 1750 CE"](https://www.academia.edu/106637796). *Journal of Historical Geography*. **82**: 49–65. [doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003)

1. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. [370](https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n392/mode/1up)

1. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [118](https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/118/mode/1up)

1. Guérin, 1869, p.[125](https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr03gugoog#page/n136/mode/1up)

1. Socin, 1879, p. [155](https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/155/mode/1up)

1. Hartmann, 1883, p. [133](https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n941/mode/1up), also noted 78 houses

1. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [260](https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/260/mode/1up). Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 100

1. Barron, 1923, Table V, [Sub-district of Gaza](/source/Gaza_Subdistrict,_Mandatory_Palestine), p. [9](https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n11/mode/1up)

1. Mills, 1932, p. [3](https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas).

1. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. *Village Statistics, April, 1945.* Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [86](http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-086.jpg)

1. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. *Village Statistics, April, 1945.* Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [136](http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-136.jpg)

1. Wallach, 1978, p. 47

## Bibliography

- Barron, J.B. (ed.) (1923). [*Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922*](https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922). Government of Palestine.
- Conder, C.R. & Kitchener, H.H. (1883). [*The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology*](https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft). Vol. 3. London: [Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund](/source/Palestine_Exploration_Fund)
- Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). [*Village Statistics, April, 1945*](http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390)
- Guérin, V. (1869). [*Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine*](https://archive.org/details/descriptiongog02gu). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris, L'Imprimerie Imp.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). [*Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine*](http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html). Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
- Hartmann, M. (1883). ["Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)"](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ). *[Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins](/source/Zeitschrift_des_Deutschen_Pal%C3%A4stina-Vereins)*. **6**: 102–149.
- Hütteroth, W.-D. & Abdulfattah, K. (1977). [*Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century*](https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ). Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Khalidi, W. (1992). [*All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948*](https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ). Washington D.C.: [Institute for Palestine Studies](/source/Institute_for_Palestine_Studies). ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Mills, E. (ed.) (1932). [*Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas*](https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas). Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Morris, B. (2004). [*The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited*](https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
- Palmer, E.H. (1881). [*The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer*](https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft). [Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund](/source/Palestine_Exploration_Fund)
- Robinson, E. & Smith, E. (1841). [*Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838*](https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog). Vol. 2. Boston: [Crocker & Brewster](/source/Crocker_%26_Brewster)
- Robinson, E. & Smith, E. (1841). [*Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838*](https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft). Vol. 3. Boston: [Crocker & Brewster](/source/Crocker_%26_Brewster)
- Socin, A. (1879). ["Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem"](https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut). *Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins*. **2**: 135–163.
- Wallach, J. (ed.) (1978). "Security" (in Hebrew). *Carta's Atlas of Israel*. Vol. First Years 1948–1961. Carta Jerusalem.

## External links

- [Welcome to Hatta](https://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Hatta/index.html) Palestine Remembered
- [Hatta](http://www.zochrot.org/village/view?id=49185), [Zochrot](/source/Zochrot)
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20: [IAA](https://web.archive.org/web/20131227120801/http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8382), [Wikimedia commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.20.jpg)
- [Hatta](http://alnakba.org/villages/gaza/hatta.htm) from the [Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center](/source/Khalil_Sakakini_Cultural_Center)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hatta, Gaza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatta%2C_Gaza) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatta%2C_Gaza?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.