Majdal Yaba

Majdal Yaba مجدل يابا Majdal al-Sadiq, Majdal Yafa
A street in the Palestinian village of Majdal Yaba, November 1917
Etymology: "Tower of [our] Father" or "Tower of Yafa" and later "Tower of Sadiq" or "The watch-tower of Yâba"[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Majdal Yaba (click the buttons)
Majdal Yaba Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°04′51.04″N 34°57′24.97″E / 32.0808444°N 34.9569361°E / 32.0808444; 34.9569361
Palestine grid	146/165
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Ramle
Date of depopulation	July 10, 1948[4]
Area [3]
• Total	26,332 dunams (26.332 km2 or 10.167 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	1,520[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Enat,[5] Rosh HaAyin,[5] Givat HaShlosha,[5] Nahshonim,[6] Migdal Afek[7]

Majdal Yaba (Arabic: مجدل يابا) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, 18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi) northeast of Ramla and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Jaffa. A walled Jewish settlement name Migdal Aphek (Hebrew: מגדל אפק, lit. 'Tower of Aphek'; Ancient Greek: Αφεχού πύργος^[8]) stood at the same site as early as the second century BCE, and it was later destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War in 67 CE. In the Crusader period, a fort named Mirabel was built at the site. Muslim 13th-century sources mention it as Majdal Yaba. For a short time under Ottoman rule, its name was changed from Majdal Yaba to Majdal Sadiq and then back again.

Incorporated into Mandatory Palestine in 1922, Majdal Yaba was captured by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli war on July 12, 1948. The town was depopulated as a result of the military assault. The number of refugees from Majdal Yaba was estimated at 1,763.^[9] The Israeli locality of Rosh HaAyin was established on the village lands in 1950, followed by the kibbutz Givat HaShlosha in 1953.