PLace

Madahil

Place
Madahil — مَداحِل
District
Galilee
Subdistrict
Safad
Average Elevation
100 m
Distance from Safad
30 km
Population
Year Arab Total
1931 100
Number of Houses (1931)
17

The village was situated in a flat area on the northeastern edge of the al-Hula Plain, about 1 km east of Wadi Banyas. Madahil was less than 1 km south of Tall al-Turmus (210290), a small mound that has produced evidence of a settlement dating to the fourth millennium B.C.

A thrust into eastern Galilee was initiated on 15 April 1948 by a Haganah brigade specially formed for this purpose. Israeli intelligence reported in June that many Palestinians evacuated their villages during the offensive out of a fear of attack. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, Madahil was one of these villages; its residents left on 30 April. Morris gives no information about their destination. The evacuation occurred before the Zionist assault on Safad on 10-11 May and might have been hastened by an actual mortar attack by the Haganah. Such attacks were frequently launched on villages near Safad.

The settlement of Kefar Szold (211289), though not on village lands, is 1.5 km southeast of the village site; it was founded in 1942.

There are no traces of any village structures. The site is covered with grass, cane, and cactuses. The surrounding land is cultivated by the settlement of Kefar Szold.