Info
District: Tiberias
Population 1948: 480
Occupation date: 01/05/1948
Occupying unit: Golani
Jewish settlements on village/town land before 1948: None
Jewish settlements on village/town land after 1948: None
Background:
al-Dalhamiyya Before 1948
The village of al-Dalhamiyya was situated in a shallow depression on the North bank of the Yarmuk river, on the border of Palestine and Jordan. The village was initially located on the Eastern bank of the Jordan river, but as Zionists reclaimed land near Lake Tiberias, the villagers relocated their village farther east.
The houses were built mostly of adobe brick with straw - and reeds roofs. Most of the population in the village were Christian. The village’s economy was dominated by agriculture with vegetables and citrus fruits, relying on the Yarmuk river for irrigation. The lands to the north and west of the village was filled with a silt-rich soil that enhanced its fertility. The American scholar, Edward Robinson, came to the area in 1838 and was told that the al-Dalhamiyya was located on the eastern bank of Jordan. In 1944-45, the village consisted of 410 persons on 2,852 dunums.
Occupation and depopulation
Details of the occupation of the village are unavailable. The village most probably became occupied around the same time as the attack on Tiberias in mid-April of 1948. The neighbouring village of Samakh was attacked on the 28th of April 1948 and by May 3rd, the Zionist settlers in the area informed the JNF (Jewish National Fund) that their surroundings had been emptied of their Arab inhabitants.
Israeli settlements on village lands
In 1933, Zionists established the settlement Asdot Ya’agov southwest of al-Dalhamiyya. Furthermore, Menachemya was founded in 1902 and is located west of the village. There are no Israeli settlements placed directly on the village grounds.
The village today
Today, the village has been completely demolished, and on the area is a banana grove, belonging to a nearby Kibbutz, Asdot Ya’agov.
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Source: al-Khalidi, Walid (ed.). All that remains: the Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington DC: 1992.
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