Khirbat al-Jawfa

The village was built atop a small, rounded hill that extended from the northern slope of Mount Faqqu’a. It overlooked the Jordan Valley from the north and northeast. A dirt road connected it to the village of Tall al-Shawk, one of the villages in the District of Baysan.

Khirbat al-Jawfa

was classified as a farm (mazra'a) in the

Palestine Index Gazetteer

, compiled during the British Mandate period.

Occupation and Depopulation

Although the village was administratively part of the District of Jenin, Mount Faqqu’a physically separated it from the city of Jenin. As such, it was more directly affected by the events in Baysan, located just 7 kilometers to the west. It is therefore likely that Khirbat al-Jawfa fell to the Golani Brigade in May 1948, during its advance toward Baysan and the surrounding valley. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, it is possible that the residents of Khirbat al-Jawfa fled on 12 May 1948, as a result of the fall of

Baysan

, which surrendered on the same day.

The Village Today

Although some ruined walls still remain, most of the village’s structures have been reduced to rubble. The entire area has been leveled and is currently used as grazing land for livestock. A large water reservoir, serving Kibbutz Ma’ale Gilboa, now exists at the site.

Zionist colonies on Village Lands

Following 1948, the armistice line between "Israel" and the West Bank came to pass just west of Khirbat al-Jawfa, cutting through the lands of the neighboring village of

Faqqu’a

(now located in the West Bank). The lands east of the armistice line, originally part of

Faqqu’a

, were incorporated into "Israeli" territory and merged with the lands that had belonged to Khirbat al-Jawfa. As a result, it is no longer possible to distinguish between the lands of Faqqu’a and those of al-Jawfa. The Israeli 

settlement of Ma’ale Gilboa, established in 1962, lies within these merged lands, 

southwest of the original village site.