- Qastina
Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=Qastina
imgsize=
caption=
arname=قسطينة
meaning="Chestnut"
altSp=
district=gz
population=890
popyear=1931
area=12,019
areakm=
date=9 July 1948
cause=F
cause2=M
cause3=
curlocl=Kfar Warburg ,Arugot ,Kfar Ahim ,Kiryat Malakhi :"For the road junction with the same name, seeMalakhi Junction ."Qastina ( _ar. قسطينة) was a Palestinian village, located 38 kilometers northeast ofGaza City . It was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli war .cite web|title=Welcome to Qastina|publisher=Palestine Remembered|accessdate=2007-12-03|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Qastina/index.html]Upon Israel's declaration of independence on
15 May 1948 , the armies of neighbouringArab states invaded, prompting fresh evacuations of civilians fearful of being caught up in the fighting. The women and children of Qastina were sent away to the village ofTell es-Safi by the menfolk at this time, but they returned after discovering there was insufficient water in the host village to meet the newcomers needs.Morris, 2004, p. 176.]A preparatory order for the conquest of Qastina and other neighbouring villages (Masmiya al Kabira, Masmiya al Saghira, al Tina and Tall al Turmus) was drafted by the
Giv'ati Brigade 's 51st Battalion and produced on29 June 1948 . According toBenny Morris , the document recommended "the 'liquidation' ("hisul") of the two Masmiya villages and 'burning' ("bi'ur") the rest."Morris, 2004, p. 436.]On
9 July 1948 , the village and its over 147 houses were completely destroyed byIsrael i forces after its inhabitants fled an assault by the Giv'ati Brigade.Today, there are four
Israel i localities located on the lands of the former village:Kfar Warburg ,Arugot ,Kfar Ahim , andKiryat Malakhi .Walid Khalidi notes of Qastina that:"All that remains is the debris of houses strewn across the site. The research team investigating the current status of the depopulated villages visited the site and found it overgrown with bushes and tall grasses that were about 2m high."
ee also
*
RAF Qastina References
Bibliography
*Morris, Benny (2004). " [http://books.google.ca/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=RA1-PA176&dq=qastina+arab&lr=&sig=dMZuMVE4EuZu_MjxsxP-j-JX06k Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited] ".
Cambridge University Press . ISBN 0521009677Villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War'
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