Lubya

The village of Lubya was located atop a rectangular rocky hill that extended from east to west, overlooking the Turkan Plain to the south. The village was divided into eastern and western sections, separated by a secondary road that connected it to the main Tiberias–Nazareth road. During the Crusader period, the village was known as Lubia.

The village is also known as the birthplace of Abu Bakr al-Lubyati, a notable Islamic scholar of the 15th century who studied religious sciences in Damascus.

In 1596, Lubya was registered as a village in the subdistrict (nahiya) of Tiberias under the district (liwa') of Safad, with a population of 1,177. It paid taxes on goats, beehives, and a press used for producing olive oil or grape juice.

In 1743, Suleiman Pasha, the governor of Damascus, died in Lubya while en route to confront Zahir al-Umar, the de facto ruler of northern Palestine during the first half of the 18th century.

In the early 19th century, British traveler Cunningham described Lubya as a large village located on the top of a hill. Swiss traveler Burckhardt (writing in 1822) noted the abundance of wild artichokes that covered the plains surrounding the village. Later in the 19th century, Lubya was described as a stone-built village constructed on a limestone ridge, with an estimated population ranging between 400 and 700, primarily engaged in cultivating figs and olives.

The older houses were clustered in the eastern part of the village, which also hosted newer buildings constructed during the British Mandate period—likely due to its proximity to the village’s fertile lands. The population was predominantly Muslim.

In 1895, under Ottoman rule, a primary school was established in the village, which continued to operate during the British Mandate period. During this time, Lubya was considered the second-largest village in the Tiberias subdistrict in terms of land area.

Lubya's economy relied heavily on agriculture, given its fertile soil and the reputation of its wheat throughout the region. Wheat was grown in the low-lying plains of Turkan, while olive trees were cultivated on the hilly slopes to the north. In 1944–1945, 31,026 dunums were dedicated to cereals and 1,655 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

The village was built over the remains of older settlements, making it an archaeological site. Two kilometers to the east were the ruins of a structure known as Khan Lubya (grid ref. 192242), which included a basin, cisterns, and large construction stones, likely dating back to the Ottoman period when the site functioned as a caravanserai.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing

According to reports published in the Palestinian press, Zionist forces launched an assault on Lubya on the night of January 20, 1948, during which one resident was killed. A report in the newspaper Filastin stated that this early raid was coordinated with another attack on the nearby village of Tur'an.

On February 24, another clash occurred on the outskirts of Lubya when residents engaged a Jewish convoy for four hours, resulting in one fatality and two injuries, according to Filastin. A further attack occurred in early March, when Haganah forces tried to break through the Tiberias–Shajara road and launched a raid on Lubya at dawn. They reached the western edge of the village but were repelled by residents, who reportedly killed seven attackers while losing one of their own.

On March 11, another infiltration attempt occurred, preceded by artillery shelling.

After the fall of Tiberias in mid-April 1948, the villagers of Lubya felt isolated. According to their own testimonies, they went to Nazareth seeking guidance and support. On June 10–11, just before the first truce in the war, another attack on Lubya took place. Simultaneously, the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) attacked the settlement of Segera to the southwest.

Villagers recounted that an Israeli infantry unit took positions on the southern edge of Lubya but withdrew by nightfall on June 11. The village militia briefly joined the ALA in its attack on Segera, but returned to defend Lubya during the truce.

After the truce ended, Israeli forces launched Operation Dekel. In July, word reached the village that Nazareth had fallen, causing widespread panic. Villagers interviewed years later said they requested military aid from nearby ALA units but received no support.

On the night of July 16, 1948, the majority of Lubya’s residents fled to the villages of Tamra and Eilabun, and later to Lebanon, leaving behind a small village militia and some elderly residents. When an Israeli armored unit approached the village the next day, the lightly armed militia decided to withdraw.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli forces shelled the village before entering it, destroyed some homes, and seized others. Some elderly residents sought refuge in a nearby cave; a few later fled, but the fate of the remaining residents is unknown.

The History of the War of Independence states that Lubya fell without resistance, opening the road to Tiberias.

The Village Today

The Jewish National Fund (JNF)—the land acquisition and management arm of the Zionist movement—planted the Lavi Pine Forest to the west of the former village site. Another nearby forest was named the Republic of South Africa Forest.

The ruins of Lubya’s houses have disappeared, but remnants of several cisterns once used for collecting rainwater still exist. Pomegranate and fig trees, as well as prickly pear cactus, grow among the ruins.

The surrounding lands are cultivated by residents of a neighboring Israeli settlement. A forest has been planted near the site, and a military museum was established in honor of the Golani Brigade, one of the units of the Israeli army. Remnants of the old secondary road that once connected Lubya to the Tiberias–Nazareth road remain visible.

Zionist Settlements on Village Lands

In 1949, the settlement of Lavi (grid ref. 191243) was established on the northeastern portion of Lubya’s lands.