Nazla (; also spelled al-Nazlah, Nazle, Annazla or en-Nuzlehmeaning Settlement, or hamlet, according to Palmer, 1881, p. 361) is a Palestinian town in the Gaza Strip, in the North Gaza Governorate of the State of Palestine. It was formerly a municipality but was merged with the nearby city of Jabalia.Roy, 1995, p. 16 Nazla is located a few kilometers north of Gaza City.
History Nazla has been identified as the site of the Byzantine-era town of Asalea (Ασαλέα in Greek).Kaswalder, 2002, p. 287. Asalea belonged to the city of Gaza during that period.Bitton-Ashkelony and Kofsky, 2004, p. 45 A celebrated Christian figure in Byzantine Gaza was Alaphion of Asalea who was known to be pious and was one of the early missionaries who helped spread Christianity in the area.Bingham, 1834, p. 137 In the 6th century Madaba Map, Asalea is marked by three towers, a gate and a segment of a wall.114. Asalea - (al-Nazlah). Franciscan Cyberspot quoting Michael Avi-Yonah, The Madaba Mosaic Map (1954).
Ottoman era In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin found the village to have about 150 inhabitants.Guérin, 1869, p. 177
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Nazle had 114 houses and a population of 414, though the population count included only men.Socin, 1879, p. 158Hartmann, 1883, p. 129, noted 113 houses
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Nazla as a "small hamlet" and a suburb of Jabalia. To the east of Nazla was a well.Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 236
British mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Nazla had a population of 694, all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. 8 increasing in the 1931 census to 944, still all Muslims, in 226 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 5
In the 1945 statistics Nazla had a population of 1,330, all Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 32 with 4,510 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. 46Nazla Profile. Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. 2007-02-09. Of this, 36 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 547 for plantations and irrigable land, 1,141 used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 88 while 24 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 138
1948, and after During Egyptian rule following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Nazla was one of six localities to establish a village council to administer its affairs. Israel occupied the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Six-Day War.Shahwan, 2003, p. 41Dishon, 1973, p. 457 In the 1970s and 1980s, Israel developed building projects in Nazla, offering Palestinian refugee families subsidized rates to resettle there.United Nations. Yearbook of the United Nations 1987. (1992). p. 340.
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External links Welcome To Nazla Survey of Western Palestine, Map 19: IAA, Wikimedia commons