Hadatha

The village was situated between two small valleys located to the east and west of a gently sloping rocky hill. It was surrounded by a basin fed by several small rivers carrying rainwater from the nearby highlands, which converged to flow into the Wadi al-Bira, a tributary of the Jordan River. To the east of the site, there was a spring that supplied the villagers with fresh drinking water. A secondary road connected Hadatha with the village of Kafr Kama, which lies on a main road leading to Samakh at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee.

In 1596, Hadatha was a village in the Tabariyah district of the Safad subdistrict, with a population of 121 inhabitants. It paid taxes on various crops such as wheat and barley, in addition to other agricultural products and livestock like goats and beehives.

By the late nineteenth century, Hadatha was described as a stone-built village atop a hill. Its approximately 150 inhabitants cultivated figs, olives, and mulberries. During the British Mandate, the village had a triangular layout, with houses spreading northwest alongside the road leading to Kafr Kama. The population consisted mostly of Sunni Muslims, except for one Christian and one Druze resident. A primary school was established in 1897 during the Ottoman era but was closed during the British Mandate period.

Agriculture was primarily based on olives and vegetables, with olive trees mainly planted in the highlands north and east of the village, while vegetables were grown in lands east, west, and south of Hadatha. In 1944/1945, a total of 8,379 dunams were allocated to cereals, and 1,990 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards. Hadatha occupied an archaeological site featuring a stone structure with an arch built over a spring, as well as remains of an olive press.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing

There are conflicting accounts in Israeli narratives regarding the capture of this village. Along with four other villages — Sirin (in the Bisan district), Ulam, and Ma'adar (both in the Tiberias district) — Israeli intelligence reports claim these villages were evacuated on April 6, 1948, by order of the Arab Higher Committee. However, Haganah records state that these four villages fell more than a month later, on May 12, into the hands of units from the Golani Brigade. The reports add that these villages were “fled by their inhabitants out of fear of the Jews,” implicitly suggesting that the depopulation resulted from a military operation. The narrative continues that following this attack, the Lower Galilee was cleared of Arabs.

The Village Today

Only stone rubble remains as evidence of the village site. Mulberry and fig trees, along with prickly pear plants, grow there. The site is currently used as pasture for cattle. The surrounding lands are cultivated by the residents of the nearby Kfar Kish settlement, growing vegetables and almonds. Some of the lower valleys around the area are also fenced.

Israeli Settlements on the Village Lands

There are no Israeli settlements established on the village lands themselves, although the Zionists established the Kfar Kish settlement (192230) in 1946 nearby.