Hulayqat

The village was situated in a region of terraced hills within the coastal plain. It stood on the eastern edge of a valley, directly west of the main Azza-Juliss road that ran parallel to the primary coastal highway. In the late 19th century, a network of secondary roads connected Huleikat with several neighboring villages. Huleikat was a small village located on a gentle slope, surrounded by a high sandy hill and an orchard to the west. The village, which expanded toward the end of the Mandate period, had a rectangular layout with its long side running parallel to the main road. Its houses were built of brick, closely spaced, with several small shops between them. The inhabitants were Muslim and obtained their domestic water supply from a well within the village. They primarily engaged in rain-fed agriculture, cultivating cereals and fruit. Fruit cultivation was concentrated on the lands northwest of the village. In 1944–1945, a total of 6,636 dunams were dedicated to cereal cultivation, and 115 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards. In addition to agriculture, some residents worked for the British Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), which had begun oil exploration in the area. Several ruins near Huleikat contained cisterns, pools, and fragments of marble and pottery.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing of the Village

According to the Haganah history, after the Palmach’s Negev Brigade destroyed the village of Burayr, farmers from the neighboring villages of Huleikat and Kawkaba fled towards the Hebron hills. This occurred on May 13, 1948, during Operation Barak. The Palmach also established a base in Huleikat. However, Egyptian writer Mohamed Abdel Moneim reports that Egyptian forces recaptured Huleikat on July 8, shortly before the end of the first truce in the war. The Egyptians seized the village using armored vehicles in a surprise attack from the north and maintained control until the second truce. Abdel Moneim states that this operation was in response to Zionist incursions in the region.

It appears that some residents remained in the village throughout the second truce until heavy fighting broke out between Egyptian and Israeli forces, causing a second displacement. Huleikat fell again on October 19–20, according to the narrative in the history of the War of Independence. The attack came in two waves from Beit Tima to the northwest and Kawkaba to the north. The battle between the Givati Brigade and Egyptian forces occurred at very close quarters in some areas. Israeli historian Benny Morris insists that no expulsions took place; rather, the residents fled in the face of the advancing battles. On October 20, a southern base occupied by Egyptian forces in the same desert fell the previous night after what was described as the fiercest battle of the campaign. Approximately 600 regular Egyptian soldiers defended the village, suffering nearly 100 fatalities and a similar number taken prisoner, according to the same newspaper report. Abdel Moneim adds that capturing Huleikat opened the road to its southern settlements and posed a serious threat to Egyptian forces.

The Village Today

Forests cover parts of the site. Sycamore trees, Christ’s thorn bushes, and cacti grow at the location. A modern road has been constructed, covering one of the old roads.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands

There are no Israeli settlements on the lands of the village.