Tulayl

Tallil was a Palestinian village situated on a small sandy hill along the southwestern shore of Lake Hula, near the point where the Handaj and Waqas rivers emptied into the lake. Its elevated location protected it from seasonal flooding. Many scholars have identified the hill on which the village stood as the likely site of the Roman town of Tella.

As of 1946, Tallil was listed as a village in the Jabra subdistrict of the Safad District, with a population of 215 residents. The village paid taxes on a variety of agricultural products such as wheat and barley, as well as on other forms of production, including beehives and water buffalo. Its homes, made of mud and reeds, were closely built together.

In modern times, the village expanded westward. By the end of the British Mandate, Tallil had grown close to the nearby village of al-Husayniyya, which had itself expanded eastward. The two villages effectively formed a single, unified community with shared facilities, including a school established by a local village development society. The entire population of both villages was Muslim.

Agriculture was the main source of livelihood for residents, who primarily cultivated cereals and vegetables. Some villagers also raised buffalo, while others engaged in fishing. In 1944–1945, approximately 3,388 dunums were allocated for cereal cultivation, and an additional 22 dunums were irrigated or used as orchards.

Occupation and Depopulation

Like other villages in the vicinity of Lake Hula, Tallil was occupied during Operation Yiftach. There are no detailed records describing how the occupation occurred, but the Israeli historian Benny Morris suggests that the village’s residents fled in late April 1948. By that time, most neighboring villages had already been depopulated due to mortar shelling and a psychological warfare campaign designed to instill fear of an imminent attack.

These tactics were employed as part of a broader strategy: to facilitate the capture of the city of Safad and to empty the eastern Galilee of its inhabitants.

The Village Today

The village site is now overgrown with dense grasses and wild vegetation, including some fig and palm trees. The only remaining structure is a single stone house with an arched entrance. The surrounding lands are now cultivated by Israeli farmers from the settlement of Chulata.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands

The Zionists established the fortified settlement of Yesud HaMa'ala in 1883, approximately 1.5 kilometers northeast of the village site, although it is not situated on village land.

However, the settlement of Chulata, established in 1937, was built on village land and lies about one kilometer northwest of the former village location.

Source: All That Remains by Walid Khalidi.