Qabba'a was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 26, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6 km northeast of Safad. History In 1596 the village appeared under the name of Qabba'a in the Ottoman tax registers as part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jira, part of Safad Sanjak. It had an all Muslim population, consisting of 11 households and 2 bachelors, an estimated 99 persons. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20 % on agricultural products, including as wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; totalling 2,280 akçe.Khalidi, 1992, p. 483Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 176Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
The village appeared under the name of Koubaa on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled during Napoleon's invasion of 1799.Karmon, 1960, p. 165
In 1838 el-Kuba'ah was noted as a Muslim village, located in the el-Khait district.Robinson and Smith, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 136
In 1875 Victor Guérin found the village to have 120 Muslim inhabitants.Guérin, 1880, p. 453
In 1881 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described as Kabbaah: "A masonry village, with a few caves to the south contains about 150 Moslems; situated on a ridge, with olives and arable land. Water from birket and good springs".Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 198
A population list from about 1887 showed Kaba'ah to have about 385 Muslim inhabitants.Schumacher, 1888, p. 189 British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qaba'a had a population of 179 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41 increasing in the 1931 census when Kabba' had 256 Muslim inhabitants, in a total of 44 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 107
In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 460 Muslims with a total land area of 13,817 dunums. Of this, 379 dunums was plantations and irrigable land, 7,966 were for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 120 while 66 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 170 1948, aftermath On 2 May 1948, Yigal Allon with Haganah launched an operation, conquering ‘Ein al Zeitun and Biriyya, and intimidating with mortar barrages the villages of Fir’im, Qabba‘a and Mughr al Kheit, leading to a mass evacuation.Morris, 2004, p. 249 note # 693 on p. 302 Qabba'a finally became depopulated on May 26, 1948, after a military assault by Israeli forces.Morris, 2004, p. 251 note # 711 on p. 303
In 1953, Hatzor HaGlilit was founded 3 km south of the village site, but not on village land.
In 1992 the village site was described: "The stone debris of destroyed houses covers the site, where shrubs, grass, cactuses, and fig and pine trees grow. Most of the surrounding land are cultivated by Israeli farmers, but some are wooded and others are used as pasture."
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External links Welcome To Qabba'a Qabba'a, Zochrot Qabba’a, Dr. Khalil Rizk Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: IAA , Wikimedia commons