Gatton Colony

Gaaton is a kibbutz located in the Western Galilee, in the north of the occupied Palestinian territory. Kibbutz Gaaton was established in October 1948 on the hills east of Nahariya by a group of Zionist immigrants from Hungary. The kibbutz takes its name from a town mentioned in historical accounts of the Zionist return from Babylon, which the founders believed to be located at the site of Gaaton. According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the kibbutz was established on the lands of Khirbat Jiddin, approximately ten kilometers east of the village of al-Kabri. Khirbat Jiddin, which contains a fortress within the Yehiam Fortress National Park, was previously used by the Bedouin al-Suwaiyat tribe and is listed by Khalidi as a depopulated Palestinian village. As of 2022, the kibbutz had a population of 725 settlers. Sources: Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used:

• The kibbutz website (in Hebrew)

• Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics

• Palestine Remembered website entry for Khirbat Jiddin