al-Dalhamiyya

The village was located on low ground on the northern bank of the Yarmouk River, at the Jordanian-Palestinian (now Jordanian) border. It was connected by a road to the main highway extending between Jisr al-Majami and the village of Samakh, and another road linked it to Al-Naqoura, a village adjacent to the area now within Jordan. Originally, Delhaniya was situated on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, but with the expansion of Zionist land reclamation projects near the Sea of Tiberias, its residents were displaced from their original homes and relocated their village further east, near the Yarmouk River.

The American biblical scholar and traveler Edward Robinson reported upon his visit to Palestine in 1838 that the village was located on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Most of the village houses were built of mud with roofs made of reeds and fig trees. The majority of the population were Christians.

Agriculture was the foundation of Delhaniya’s economy, primarily based on vegetables and citrus fruits. The lands north and west of the village were noted for their fertile soil enriched with marl, enhancing their productivity. The villagers relied on the Jordan River to irrigate their crops. In 1944/1945, a total of 1,709 dunams were allocated for grain cultivation, and 29 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards. On the southwestern outskirts of the village was the ruin of Delhaniya (Grid reference 203238), consisting of rubble and pottery shards.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing

There are no detailed records about the occupation of Delhaniya. It is likely that the village was occupied sometime between the attack on Tiberias in mid-April 1948 and the occupation of Beisan and the Beisan Valley in the first half of May. Several neighboring villages were occupied during this period as preparation for the clearing of the Beisan Valley. The nearby village of Samakh was attacked on April 28, and by early May, Jewish settlers in the area informed the Jewish National Fund that the surrounding area near the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) had been cleared of its Arab inhabitants. According to historian Benny Morris, these settlers requested the swift establishment of Jewish settlements on the recently evacuated village lands.

Delhaniya Today

The village has been completely erased, and the site now contains a banana plantation belonging to the nearby Kibbutz Ashdot Ya’akov.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands

In 1933, Zionists established the settlement of Ashdot Ya’akov (Grid reference 204229) southwest of the village. The settlements of Ashdot Ya’akov Me’uhad (established in 1933, Grid reference 204130) and Menachemya (established in 1902, Grid reference 202230) lie to the west of the village. Although these two settlements are close to the village site, neither is located on the village’s lands.