Beit Hanoun

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Beit Hanoun


imgsize=
caption=
arname=بيت حانون
meaning=
founded=
type=muna
typefrom=
altOffSp=Beit Hanun
altUnoSp=Bayt Hanun
governorate=ng
latd=31|latm=32|lats=29.23|latNS=N
longd=34 |longm=32|longs=10.60|longEW=E
population=32,187
popyear=2006
area=125,000
areakm=125.0
mayor=

Beit Hanoun ( _ar. بيت حانون) is a city on the north-east edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 32,187 in mid-year 2006. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop12.aspx Projected Mid -Year Population] for North Gaza Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics] It is administered by the Palestinian Authority. It is located by the Hanoun stream, just km to mi|6 away from the Israeli town of Sderot.

History

According to local legend, Beit Hanoun was the capital of the Philistine King Hanoun who fought the Assyrians in the 8th century BCE. The Ayyubids defeated the Crusaders at a battle in Umm al-Nasser hill, just east of Beit Hanoun, and built the Umm al-Naser Mosque ("Mother of Victories Mosque") there in commemoration of the victory. A Mamluk post office was located in Beit Hanoun as well. [ [http://www.mideasttravelling.net/palestine/gaza/gaza_culture.htm Beit Hanoon] Municipality of Gaza.]

Post-1948 War

While under control of Egyptian authorities Egypt complained to the Mixed Armistice Commission that on the 7 and 14 October 1950 Israeli military Forces had shelled and machine-gunned the Arab villages of Abasan al-Kabera and Beit Hanoun in Egyptian controlled territory of the Gaza strip. This action caused the death of seven and the wounding of twenty civilians. [ [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/6b189672cac9e58a85256d9f006554b8!OpenDocument UN Doc S/1459] of 20 February 1950 Report of the Mixed Armistice Commission]

This town is also notable for the 2006 shelling of Beit Hanoun where 19 Palestinians were killed by IDF shelling. According to Israeli authorities it was in response for its use as a base from which Palestinian militant groups have fired Qassam rockets into the northern Negev towns like Sderot, as well as the former Gush Katif settlements.

In December 2006, the UN appointed a fact-finding commission led by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu to investigate the attack. However, Tutu and the other members were not granted permission to travel by Israel and the investigation was cancelled. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6168309.stm BBC Israel 'blocks Tutu Gaza mission'] "BBC News".] Tutu's final report to the United Nations human rights council [ [http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/9session/A.HRC.9.26.doc HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND OTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES] Report of the high-level fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun established under Council resolution S-3/1] concluded, however, that " [I] n the absence of a well-founded explanation from the Israeli military - who is in sole possession of the relevant facts - the mission must conclude that there is a possibility that the shelling of Beit Hanoun constituted a war crime." [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/15/israelandthepalestinians.unitednations Israeli shelling of Beit Hanoun a possible war crime, Desmond Tutu tells UN] , The Guardian, 15 September, 2008.]

According to the Palestinian Authority, prior to the November 2006 incident, at least 140 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Forces in Beit Hanoun from September 2000 to November 2006. [ [http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=17908] ]

On March 27. 2007, sewage water flooded the northern Umm al-Nasser suburb of Beit Hanoun, killing five people. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6498835.stm Sewage flood causes Gaza deaths] "BBC News", 27 March 2007 (retrieved 28 March 2007).]

Demographics

Beit Hanoun had a population of 885 in a 1922 British Mandate census. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Bayt_Hanun_861/index.html Welcome To Bayt Hanun] ] The population more than doubled by 1945. In that year, a land and population survey recorded 1,730 inhabitants including 50 Jews. [Hadawi, Sami. (1970). [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Gaza/Page-045.jpg/Page-067.jpg Gaza District Statistics] from [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine] The Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.] In 1961, the population rose to 3,876.

In the first official census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Beit Hanoun had a total population of 20,780. Over 90% of the residents were Palestinian refugees. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/ngz_t6.aspx Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).] There were 10,479 males and 10,301 females. The age distribution was as follows: People 14 years of age or younger constituted the majority at 65.6%, people between the ages of 20 and 44 was 26.8%, 45 to 64 was 5.7% and residents above the age of 65 was 1.9%. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/ngz_t1.aspx Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).]

Local infrastructure

There are twelve secondary, primary and agricultural schools in Beit Hanoun and an agricultural college which is related to al-Azhar University - Gaza. There is a medical center and hospital in the city and several clinics mostly managed by the United Nations. [ [http://beithanoun.ps/en/index.php?action=our_city Our City] Beithanoun Municipality.]

ee also

* Operation Days of Penitence
* 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
* Operation Autumn Clouds

References