Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya () is a city in the Gaza Strip, north of Jabalia, in the North Gaza Governorate of the State of Palestine. It sits next to Beit Hanoun and close to the border with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 89,838 in 2017.
According to the 5th century historian Sozomen, whose family had lived in the town for several generations, the townspeople started converting to Christianity due to the hermit Hilarion who is attributed to have healed miraculously a citizen called Alaphion. An eremitic center was founded around the year 360 in the village, housing around four who were disciples of Hilarion. Ceramics from the Byzantine Empire period have been found.Dauphin, 1998, p. 881
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the area of Beit Lahia experienced a significant process of settlement decline due to Bedouin pressures on local communities. The residents of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, but the land continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.
In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Beit Lehia as a Muslim village located in the Gaza district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 118
In May 1863, Victor Guérin visited the village. He described it:
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Beit Lahia had a population of 394, with a total of 118 houses, though the population count included men only.Socin, 1879, p. 146Hartmann, 1883, p. 129 also noted 118 houses
In 1883 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "small village with fine gardens and groves of large and ancient olives in the middle of the sand. It has a well to the south .. There is a small mosque in the village."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, pp. 233-234
The Ibrahim al-Maqadma Mosque missile strike occurred on 3 January 2009 as part of the Gaza War when an Israeli missile hit the Ibrahim al-Maqadna Mosque during Maghrib prayer. Witnesses said over 200 Palestinians were praying inside at the time. At least 14 people, including six children, were killed, and many more than 60 wounded. Israeli troops enter Gaza Strip BBC News. 3 January 2009
In 2017, the Edward Said Public Library was established in Beit Lahia by the poet Mosab Abu Toha; it was the first public library in the Gaza Strip for English-language works.
In January 2024, Israel withdrew from the majority of North Gaza, and a ground connection between Palestinian-controlled Gaza City was re-established. Around this time, the Gaza Soup Kitchen was established in Beit Lahia to provide food to Palestinians at risk of famine.
In April 2024, Israel withdrew all territories in the Gaza Strip except for the Netzarim Corridor, returning the northern villages such as As-Siafa back to Palestinian control until the second Israeli invasion of northern Gaza in May 2024 as a result of Hamas regrouping in some areas there.
By June 2024, Gaza's Civil Defence stated the destruction in Beit Lahia "defies imagination".
On 29 October 2024, nearly 100 civilians, including over 20 children, were killed in a bombing of a five-story building by Israeli Forces. The Gaza Health Ministry reported over 90 casualties, including 25 children, with numerous individuals trapped under the rubble.
On 26 March 2025, The Guardian reported that hundreds of Palestinians, mostly male, had gathered in Beit Lahia, chanting anti-Hamas slogans.
Gaza war (2023–present)
Demography
International relations
Bibliography
External links
|
|