Statistic/Fact	Value
Israeli occupation date	May 18, 1948
Distance from district center	30 (km) North East of Gaza
Elevation from the sea	50 (meters)
Map location	See location number #14 on the map
Israeli military operation	Second stage of Operation Barak
Israeli attacking brigade	Possibly Giva'ti Brigade
Exodus Cause	Feer of Jewish attack, or of being caught in the fighting
Village remains after destruction by Israelis	The village has been mostly destroyed with the exception of its cemetery.
Ethnically cleansing by Israelis	al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Land ownership before occupation	Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums) Arab 7,307 Jewish 0 Public 216 Total 7,523
Land usage in 1945	Land Usage Type Arab (Dunum) Irrigated & Plantation 585 Planted W/ Cereal 6,663 Built up 25 Cultivable 7,248 Non-Cultivable 250
Population before occupation	Year Population 1596 237 1922 572 1931 723 1945 1,030 1948 1,195 Est. Refugees 1998 7,337
Number of houses	Year Number of houses 1931 134 1948 221
Schools	al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya shared a school with the other two Sawafir villages, and in 1945 it had an enrollment of about 280.
Shrines/maqams	A shrine for local sage al-Shaykh al-Baz
Archeological sites	The village contained the fragmentary remains of earlier occupation.
Exculsive jewish colonies on town's lands	Merkaz Shappira, Massu'ot Yitzchaq, and 'En Tzurim
Related Maps	خرائط تفصيلية للمحافظة View from satellite Help us map this town at WikiMapia
More Information	Language External Links Arabic PalGates Hebrew Nakba in Hebrew   Nakba-Online

Bibliography and References

Town Today

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:
"All of the houses are gone. An old village road is clearly visible. The cemetery is overgrown with wild vegetation. One can see the debris of (what appears to be) a water-pump building in the al-Baz orchard"

• Video Nakba Oral History Podcast: Interview with Abdil Majeed Afaneh