View source for Kawkaba

{{Other places|Kawkab (disambiguation){{!}}Kawkab}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Kawkaba
| native_name             = كوكبا
| native_name_lang        = ar
| other_name              = Kaukaba
| settlement_type         = 
<!-- images, nickname, motto -->
| etymology               = Star, or  mountain, or donjon<ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/368/mode/1up 368]</ref>
<!-- maps and coordinates -->
| pushpin_map             = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption     = Location within [[Mandatory Palestine]] | image_map               = {{Historical map series|default=2|date1=1870s|date2=1940s|date3=modern|date4=1940s with modern overlay|width=225}} | map_caption             = A series of historical maps of the area around Kawkaba (click the buttons)
| pushpin_mapsize         = 200
| coordinates             = {{coord|31|37|51|N|34|39|46|E|type:city_region:PS|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name               = [[Palestine grid|Palestine&nbsp;grid]]
| grid_position           = 117/115
<!-- location -->
| subdivision_type        = [[Geopolitical entity]]
| subdivision_name        = [[Mandatory Palestine]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Districts of Mandatory Palestine|Subdistrict]]
| subdivision_name1       = [[Gaza Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Gaza]]
<!-- established -->
| established_title1      = Date of depopulation
| established_date1       = 12 May 1948<ref>Morris, 2004, p.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR19 xix], village No. 304. Also gives cause for depopulation</ref>
| established_title2      = Repopulated dates
<!-- area -->
| area_footnotes          =<ref name=Hadawi46/>
| unit_pref               = dunam
| area_total_dunam        = 8,542
<!-- population -->
| population_as_of        = 1945
| population_total        = 680<ref name=DoS1945p31>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p31.jpg  31]</ref><ref name=Hadawi46>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in  Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Gaza/Page-046.jpg  46]</ref>
<!-- blank fields (section 1) -->
| blank_name_sec1         = Cause(s) of depopulation
| blank_info_sec1         = Influence of nearby town's fall
| blank3_name_sec1        = Current Localities
| blank3_info_sec1        = [[Kokhav Michael]]<ref name=Khalidi122>Khalidi, 1992, p. 122</ref>
}}
'''Kawkaba''' ({{Langx|ar|كوكبا}}), known to the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] as '''Coquebel''', was a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian Arab]] village that was occupied by Israel during [[Operation Yoav]] during the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]], and depopulated.

==Location==
The village was on an uneven stretch of red-brown soil on the southern coastal plain. It lay on the highway constructed by the British during [[World War II]], which paralleled the coastal highway.<ref name=Khalidi122/>

==History==
The site was known during the [[Crusades]] as Coquebel. Kawkaba contained an archaeological site with a pool, cisterns, the foundations of buildings, [[column]]s, severed [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]]. North of it was Khirbat Kamas, which was identified as the Crusader Camsa and which yielded some archaeological artifacts.<ref name=Khalidi122/>

===Ottoman era===
Kawkaba was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1517 with the rest of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and by 1596 [[Defter|tax record]] it was known as ''Kawkab'', with a population of 16 [[Muslim]] households; an estimated 88 persons. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, sesame, fruit trees and vineyards; a total of 2,640 [[akçe]]. 6/24 of the revenue went to a [[waqf]].<ref>Hütteroth and  Abdulfattah, 1977,  p. 145. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 122</ref>

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the area of Kawkaba experienced a significant process of settlement decline due to [[nomad]]ic pressures on local communities. The residents of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, but the land continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2023-01-01 |title=Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalān's hinterland, 1270 – 1750 CE |url=https://www.academia.edu/106637796 |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=82 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In 1838, [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] noted ''Kaukaba'' as a Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.<ref name="Robinsonp119">Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.  [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/119/mode/1up 119]</ref>

In 1863 [[Victor Guérin]] found that the village has a population of five hundred inhabitants. In the interior of a [[Maqam (shrine)|oualy]] dedicated to ''Sheikh Mohammed'' he observed  mutilated fluted white marble column,  next to a [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] [[Capital (architecture)|capital]]. At the [[water well|well]], he noted two barrels, also ancient columns, one with white marble, the second gray granite, which were, he thought, exhumed in that area and did not come from elsewhere.<ref>Guérin, 1869, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/127/mode/1up 127]</ref>

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed ''Kokabe'' with a population of 72, in 20 houses,  though the population count included men, only.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/156/mode/1up 156]</ref><ref>Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n941/mode/1up  133],  also noted 20 houses</ref> 

In 1882, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund|PEF]]'s ''[[PEF Survey of Palestine|Survey of Western Palestine]]'' described it as a small [[adobe]] village, with a well to the west and a pool to the north.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1883,  SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/260/mode/1up 260]</ref> The village had a rectangular layout along the above-mentioned road, and expanded north–south alongside it.<ref name=Khalidi122/>

===British Mandate era===
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], conducted by the  [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate]] authorities,  ''Kukaba'' had a population of 439, all [[Muslim]]s,<ref>Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n10/mode/1up   8]</ref> increasing in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]]  to 522, still all Muslims, in  121 houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 4].</ref>

[[File:Beit Tima 1931.jpg|thumb|Kawkaba 1931 1:20,000]]
[[File:Ashkelon 1945.jpg|thumb|Kawkaba 1945 1:20,000]]

Kawkaba shared an elementary school with the villages of [[Bayt Tima]] and [[Hulayqat]]. Its houses were made of [[adobe]] and cement, and its shops were located at the village center, on the western side of the road. On its eastern site were two water sources: a spring and a 70-meter deep well. The villagers  engaged in [[rainfed agriculture]], cultivating grain and winter and summer vegetables. Towards the end of the British Mandate period they also cultivated fruits, such as figs and grapes, on all their land expect to the west.<ref name=Khalidi122/>

In  the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]] the population of  ''Kaukaba''  was 680 Muslims,<ref name=DoS1945p31/> while  the total land area was 8,542 [[dunam]]s, according to an official land and population survey.<ref name=Hadawi46/> Of this, a total of  166 dunams  were used  for plantations and irrigable land,  8,166  for cereals,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-087.jpg 87]</ref> while 40 dunams were built-up areas.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in  Hadawi,  1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-137.jpg 137]</ref>

===1948 and after===
The village that was captured by Israel during [[Operation Yoav]] during the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]]. The fall of the village was preceded by the events at nearby [[Burayr]]; where the [[Haganah]] [[Oded Brigade]] apparently executed a large number of military age Palestinians. The Kawkaba villages had offered to surrender to the Yishuv's forces but the [[Haganah]] drove out the last of the inhabitants on the 27/28 May 1948.<ref> Morris, 2004, p.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA258 258]</ref> The village was on the front line between the Israeli and Egyptian armies through the summer of 1948 and appears to have changed hands several times.<ref>For example see [[Operation An-Far]], Khalidi, 1992, page 122.</ref>

Following the war the area was incorporated into the [[State of Israel]] and in 1950 the [[moshav]] of [[Kokhav Michael]] was founded on village land, southeast of the village site.<ref name=Khalidi122/>

According  to Khalidi, by 1992 the remaining structures on the village land were: 
<blockquote>"The site is overgrown with sycamore and Christ's -thorn trees. The old road, as well as crumbled walls and debris in a wooded part of the site are clearly visible. The land in the vicinity is cultivated by Israeli farmers."<ref name=Khalidi122/></blockquote>

==People from Kawkaba==
* The family of [[Mohammed Deif]] lived in Kawkaba before the 1948 war.<ref>{{Cite web | title=How Many Dead Children in Gaza Is Mohammed Deif Worth? - Opinion - Haaretz.com | url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-07-13/ty-article-opinion/.premium/how-many-dead-children-is-mohammed-deif-worth/00000190-ad88-d45b-a197-ef886af80000 | access-date=2025-11-19 | website=www.haaretz.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book | editor =Barron, J.B.  | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922|url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922  | publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923}}
*{{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=3}}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}}
*{{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongog02gu|volume=1: Judee, pt. 2|year=1869|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}} 
*{{cite journal | last = Hartmann | first =M.| author-link = Martin Hartmann | title = Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)  | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 6 | pages = 102–149 | url =https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ | year = 1883}} 
*{{cite book | last1= Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ  | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}
*{{cite book|title=All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ |first=W.|last=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=[[Institute for Palestine Studies]]|isbn=0-88728-224-5}}
*{{cite book | editor = Mills, E.  | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}  
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |first=B. |last=Morris |author-link=Benny Morris |year=2004 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} 
*{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}  
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|  location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=3}}
*{{cite journal | author = Socin, A.| author-link = Albert Socin | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut | year = 1879}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Kawkaba/ Kawkaba] Palestine Remembered
*[http://www.zochrot.org/village/view?id=49218 Kawkaba], [[Zochrot]]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20: [https://web.archive.org/web/20131227120801/http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8382   IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.20.jpg Wikimedia commons] 
*[http://alnakba.org/villages/gaza/kawkaba.htm Kawkaba] from the [[Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center]]

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

[[Category:District of Gaza]]
[[Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War]]