Khirbat Zalafa () was a small Palestinian Arab village in the Tulkarm Subdistrict, located about northwest of Tulkarm. It was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war. It was occupied by Yishuv forces on April 15, 1948 as a part of operation "Coastal Clearing."Morris, 2004, p. xviii, village #185
History Remains from a settlement dating to the Roman-Byzantine era have been found here.Tsafrir et al, 1994, p. 260
In the modern era, the people of Khirbat Zalafa came from Attil to farm the village land. Gradually they settled in the village so they could be closer to their land. In the late 19th century, Khirbat Zalafa was described as a small hamlet with springs to the south.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 153. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 568
Palestinian Rural History Project (PRHP) oral histories Excavations revealed traces of Late Ottoman infant jar-burials, commonly associated with nomads or itinerant workers of Egyptian origins.Taxel, Y., Marom, R., & Nagar, Y. (2025). An Infant Jar Burial from Zarnūqa: Muslim Funerary Practices and Migrant Communities in Late Ottoman Palestine. 'Atiqot, 117, 269–293.
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine there were 63 villagers, all Muslim.Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tulkarem, p. 28 At the time of the 1931 census, the village was counted under Attil, together with Jalama and Al-Manshiyya.Mills, 1932, p. 53
The village had a small core of houses, with many dwellings scattered throughout on the agricultural lands. The agriculture was based on watermelons, vegetables, grain and olives.
By the 1944/45 statistics the village had 210 Muslims, while jurisdiction was 7,713 dunams, of which 6,865 was Arab owned, 617 was Jewish owned, while 231 was publicly owned. Of this, 6,798 dunums were allotted to cereals, 38 dunum was devoted to citrus and bananas ad 6 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 126 Also Khalidi, 1992, p. 568 while 3 dunams were classified as built-up, urban land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 176
1948 and after The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village in 1992: "The village has been completely levelled. Both the original site and the surrounding lands are covered with Israeli citrus orchards."Khalidi, 1992, p. 568
There are no Israeli settlements on village land.
See also Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
References
Bibliography
(p. 245 #635 on p. 298 and The migratory movement..., pp. 21, 23)
External links and references Welcome To Zalafa, Khirbat Khirbat Zalafa, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons Zalafa, Khirbat, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center