Dayr Yasin

The village of Deir Yassin is located approximately 6 kilometers west of Jerusalem and about 2 kilometers south of the main Jerusalem–Jaffa road. It is surrounded by the lands of the villages of Lifta, Qalunya, Ein Karim, and al-Maliha. The closest settlement to it in the 1940s was the "Giv'at Shaul" settlement. The houses of Deir Yassin were no more than one hundred meters away from the houses of Lifta. The Israelis now refer to the site of Deir Yassin as "Giv'at Shaul." According to British Mandate census data, the population of Deir Yassin was about 254 in 1922, rising to approximately 491 in 1931, and to 610 in 1945. Local residents estimate that their population was around 750 at the time of their displacement in 1948. The total land area of Deir Yassin in 1945 was 2,857 dunams, with the village itself built on 12 dunams. Of the remaining land, 1,979 dunams were non-cultivable, and approximately 153 dunams were transferred to Jewish ownership. On April 9, 1948, Deir Yassin was attacked by the paramilitary groups Lehi and Irgun, during which a massacre occurred that is rarely matched in history. Deir Yassin gained worldwide notoriety and had a significant impact on the course of the 1948 war.