Deir Abu Da'if () is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 6 km east of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,293 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 7,045 in 2017.Projected Mid -Year Population for Jenin Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
History The village, not mentioned in 16th century tax records, was likely established in the modern era, with its settlers coming from Hebron.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 349
Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 787
The nearby village of 'Abba, deserted after the 16th century, is now settled by people from Deir Abu Daif.
Ottoman era In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Deir Abu Da'if as one of a range of villages round a height, the other villages being named as Beit Qad, Fuku'a, Deir Ghuzal and Araneh.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 157
In 1870 Victor Guérin noted it as a small village, south of Beit Qad, but less important than it. Guérin called the village for Ed-Deir.Guérin, 1874, p. 334
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Shafa al-Qibly.
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it: "A small village near the edge of the hills, on rising ground. The water supply is from cisterns. Olive- gardens exist on the north. The houses are of mud and stone."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 83
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the village had a population of 441; 434 Muslims and 7 Christians,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29 where the Christians were all Orthodox,Barron, 1923, Table XV, p. 47 increasing in the 1931 census to 598; 593 Muslims and 5 Christians, with 136 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 67
In 1944/5 statistics the population was 850, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 with a total of 12,906 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 54 Of this, 1,919 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 4,836 dunams were for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 98 while 30 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 148
Jordanian era After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Deir Abu Da'if came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,191 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, 1964, p. 25
Post-1967 Deir Abu Da'if has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War.
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External links Welcome To Dayr Abu Da'if Deir Abu Da’if, welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 9: IAA, Wikimedia commons