Info
District: Jenin
Population 1948: 313
Occupation date: 30/05/1948
Occupying unit: Fourth Battalion of the Golani Brigade
Jewish settlements on village/town land before 1948: None
Jewish settlements on village/town land after 1948: Prazon, Gan Ner, Meitav
Background:
The village was located on the flat, circular peak of the mountain known in biblical scripture as Mount Gilboa, and locally as Mount al-Mazar or Djebel Foukou'ah (« Mount of Mushrooms »). It was joined to the neighbouring village of Nuris by a dirt path. It was situated 9 kilometers northeast from Jenin.
Israeli forces broke through to al-Mazat and occupied it after they had captured the villages of Nuris and Zir'in on 30 May 1948. The History of the War of Independence states that the unit invloed was the Fourth Battalion of the Golani Brigade. Earlier, in April, Palmach's headquarters had issued orders to its First Battalion « to destroy enemy bases » in all three villages, but these orders do not seem to have been acted upon immediatly. Shorlty after occupying the village, Israeli forces went on to strike at the town of Jenin, which the did not succeed in holding.
There are three Israeli settlements on village lands : Perazon, founded in 1953 ; Meytav, founded in 1954 ; and Gan Ner, founded in 1987. The site is overgrown with thorns and cactuses and strewn with stone rubble. None of the village houses or landmarks remains. Almond trees and cactuses grow on parts of the village land. The hilly lands are used as grazing areas, and other parts are covered with forest.
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