Al-Sakhina

Al-Sakhina (Arabic: الساخنة), was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was located five kilometres west of Baysan on the Jalud River on its way to the Jordan River. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, possibly on May 12, 1948, as part of Operation Gideon.^[2]

Al-Sakhina الساخنة
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Sakhina (click the buttons)
Al-Sakhina Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°30′59″N 35°27′44″E
Palestine grid	193/213
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Baysan
Date of depopulation	Not known,[1] possibly 12 May 1948[2]
Area
• Total	1,088 dunams (1.088 km2 or 269 acres)
Population  (1945)
• Total	530[3][4]
Current Localities	Nir David[2]

History

At the time of the 1931 census, al-Sakhina had 78 occupied houses and a population of 372 Muslims, one Christian, and one Jew.^[5] In 1936, a Jewish kibbutz, Tel Amal (later renamed Nir David), was established slightly to the south.

The village and kibbutz together had 530 Muslims and 290 Jews in the 1945 statistics.^[3] Arabs used a total of 260 dunums for cereals and 828 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations,^[6] while Nir David and Al-Sakhina together had a total of 340 dunams as built-up and non-cultivable land.^[7]