Al-Khisas (, Khirbat al-Khiṣāṣ) was a Palestinian Arab village in Palestine, located northeast of Gaza near the modern city of Ashkelon.
Location Al-Khisas was located just west of Ni'ilya, south of Al-Jura.
Al-Khisas, called Khisas, was inhabited in the 15th century. Mamluk records show that in 1459 CE it was endowed was a waqf.
History Late Ottoman period In 1838, in the late Ottoman era, el Khusas was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted", located in the Gaza district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 119
An official Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Chasas had 6 houses and a population of 35, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p. 149 Also noted in the Gaza districtHartmann, 1883, p. 149
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine found at Khurbet el Khesas "a few heaps of stones with a well near".Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 252
British Mandate period The modern village was classified as a hamlet in the Palestine Index Gazetter, and was built after World War I.Khalidi, 1992, p.123 Farmers from neighboring areas first built temporary huts at the site to shelter themselves during the harvest, gradually they settled and built adobe houses. The population relied on neighboring villages Al-Jura and Ni'ilya for medical, educational and administrative services.
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Khesas had a population of 102 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. 8 increasing in the 1931 census to 133, still all Muslims, in 26 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 5.
In the 1945 statistics, Al-Khisas had a population of 150 Muslims with a total of 6,269 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. 46 Of this, 191 dunums of village land were used for citrus and bananas, 419 for cereal farming, 2,671 irrigated or used for orchards,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 87 while 10 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 137
1948 war; State of Israel The village was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War between November 4–5, 1948, at the end of Operation Yo'av. The Israeli army found about 150 people in Al-Khisas and nearby Ni'ilya; they were all expelled to Beit Hanoun on the Gaza strip.Morris, 2004, pp. 517-518
In 1949, S. Yizhar, a member of the Givati Brigade that expelled Al-Khisas inhabitants, published the best selling novella Khirbet Khizeh as a fictional tale. In 1978, his commander identified the village in the story as Al-Khisas.
In 1992 the village site was described as being "engulfed by the Israeli town of Ashkelon".
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External links Welcome To al-Khisas Khirbet al-Khisas, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 19: IAA, Wikimedia commons al-Khisas from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center