Beit Hanoun
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Beit Hanoun or Beit Hanun (Template:Langx) was a Palestinian city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 52,237 in 2017.<ref name="PrelimCensus2017" /> As a result of the ongoing Gaza war, the area of Beit Hanoun has been militarily contested between the Hamas administration and Israel. Furthermore, the town has been entirely depopulated, and all of its structures destroyed.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> The remains of Beit Hanoun are located by the Nahal-Hanun stream, Template:Convert away from the Israeli city of Sderot.
History
The Ayyubids defeated the Crusaders at a battle in Umm al-Nasser hill, just west of Beit Hanoun in 1239, and built the Umm al-Naser Mosque ("Mother of Victories Mosque") there in commemoration of the victory.Template:Sfn A Mamluk post office was located in Beit Hanoun as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ottoman era
Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Historic Palestine, Beit Hanoun appeared in the 1596 tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Gaza, part of Gaza Sanjak. It had a population of 36 Muslim households and paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives; a total of 9,300 akçe.<ref name=Hutteroth>Template:Harvnb</ref>
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the area of Beit Hanoun experienced a significant process of settlement decline due to nomadic pressures on local communities. The residents of abandoned villages moved to survive settlements, but the land continued to be cultivated by neighbouring villages.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Beit Hanoun survived, and Pierre Jacotin named the village Deir Naroun on his map depicting Napoleon's Syrian campaign of 1799.Template:Sfn
In 1838, Edward Robinson passed by and described how "all were busy with the wheat harvest; the reapers were in the fields; donkeys and camels were moving homewards with their high loads of sheaves; while on the threshing-floors near the village, I counted not less than thirty gangs of cattle."Template:Sfn He further noted it as a Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.Template:Sfn In May 1863, the Victor Guérin visited the village. He observed indications of ancient constructions in the shape of cut stones, fragments of columns, and bases among the gardens.<ref>Template:Harvnb, as noted by Template:Harvnb</ref> He further noted that the population consisted of "400 souls".<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Beit Hanoun had 94 houses and a population of 294. However, the population count included men only.Template:Sfn Hartmann found that Bet Hanun had 95 houses.Template:Sfn
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a small adobe village, "surrounded by gardens, with a well to the west. The ground is flat, and to the east is a pond beside the road."Template:Sfn
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Beit Hanoun had a population of 885 inhabitants, all Muslim,<ref name=Census1922>Template:Harvnb</ref> decreasing in the 1931 census to 849, still all Muslims, in 194 houses.Template:Sfn
In the 1945 statistics, Beit Hanun had a population of 1,680 Muslims and 50 Jews, with 20,025 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.<ref name=1945p31>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name=Hadawi45>Template:Harvnb Quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> Of this, 2,768 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 697 were plantations and irrigable land, and 13,186 used for cereals,<ref>Template:Harvnb Quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref> while 59 dunams were built-up land.<ref>Template:Harvnb Quoted in Template:Harvnb</ref>
Egyptian occupation
In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the vicinity of Beit Hanoun, and later Beit Hanoun itself, served as an Israeli tactical wedge (Beit Hanoun wedge) to halt the movement of the Egyptian army from Ashkelon to forces to the south in the area that later became the Gaza Strip.
During the occupation, Egypt complained to the Mixed Armistice Commission that on 7 and 14 October 1950, Israeli military forces had shelled and machine-gunned the Arab villages of Abasan al-Kabera and Beit Hanoun in Egyptian controlled territory of the Gaza Strip. According to Egypt, this action caused the death of seven and the wounding of twenty civilians.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>
Israeli occupation
According to the Palestinian Authority, 140 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Beit Hanoun from September 2000 to November 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Israeli army besieged Beit Hanoun from 15 May to 30 June 2003, during which it demolished dozens of houses, razed large areas of agricultural land and largely destroyed the civilian infrastructure of the town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the Raid on Beit Hanoun in 2004, the town was besieged for 37 days. About 20 Palestinians were killed, and again immense damage was caused to property and infrastructure. The infrastructure of Beit Hanoun was heavily damaged again during an incursion by Israeli forces in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref>
Palestinian administration
Following the removal of Israeli settlers from Gaza in August 2005, 19 Palestinian civilians were killed in the 2006 shelling of Beit Hanoun. In December 2006, the UN appointed a fact-finding commission led by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu to investigate the attack. Despite initial difficulties accessing the area via Israel, the commission, led by Tutu and legal scholar Christine Chinkin, eventually entered Gaza through Egypt.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Tutu's final report to the United Nations Human Rights Council<ref>HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN PALESTINE AND OTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES Report of the high-level fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun established under Council resolution S-3/1</ref> concluded that "[I]n the absence of a well-founded explanation from the Israeli military – who is in sole possession of the relevant facts – the mission must conclude that there is a possibility that the shelling of Beit Hanoun constituted a war crime."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 27 March 2007, sewage water flooded the northern Umm al-Nasser suburb of Beit Hanoun, killing five people.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Shells and rockets hit Beit Hanoun several times during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. The shelling of a UNWRA Elementary school by Israel killed 11–15 people, including women and children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Israeli Defense Forces claimed that "the IDF encountered heavy fire in vicinity of the school, including anti-tank missile... [and] that an errant mortar did indeed land in the empty courtyard of the school."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gaza war (2023–present)
Israeli forces advanced on the city on 27 October 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 12 November, the IDF advanced beyond the city, however, they continued to be attacked behind the frontlines due to a maintained presence of Saraya al-Quds and Al-Qassam militants. As a result of massive bombardment campaigns and the ground invasion, Beit Hanoun was believed to be entirely depopulated and destroyed, with destruction so extensive that it has been described as "no longer existing".<ref name="ISW Nov 12">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 18 December 2023, it was reported that Israeli forces had full control over Beit Hanoun and had destroyed Hamas’ Beit Hanoun Battalion.<ref name="ISW Dec 18">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ToI">Template:Cite news</ref>
However, local media claimed that on 24 December, Israeli forces left Beit Hanoun due to remaining Palestinian fighting in the city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> IDF withdrawal was not confirmed by independent media. Civilians were seen tearing down Israeli flags that were flown in the city in late December.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 6 February 2024 it was reported that the IDF was again operating in Beit Hanoun and that troops had identified "four terrorist operatives trying to set up observation infrastructure in an attempt to restore intelligence-gathering capabilities" in Beit Hanoun and had launched a strike against them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 31 May 2024, the IDF once more ended up withdrawing from Beit Hanoun following a 20-day operation that marked the end of the Battle of Jabalia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Beit Hanoun was one of the three cities attacked by Israel during its siege of North Gaza, which lasted from October 2024 to January 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January, during the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, some families returned to Beit Hanoun to attempt to salvage their homes, many of which had been destroyed or damaged in the war.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 7 July 2025, the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, posted an aerial photograph showing Beit Hanoun and other areas in North Gaza, declaring that the area had been "level[ed] to the ground."<ref name=":1" /> That same day, there was a Hamas attack on IDF forces; five IDF soldiers were killed and were wounded. On 8 July 2025, the Israeli military had surrounded the Beit Hanoun area "from all directions," with forces of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, and was attempting to exert full control over the area that they had failed to capture during prior clashes in the city.<ref>The Beit Hanoun operation: A blow to the colony’s alleged “legitimacy”, Middle East Monitor, 8 July 2025</ref><ref>5 IDF soldiers killed, 14 injured by roadside bombs in northern Gaza, Times of Israel, 8 July 2025</ref><ref>Militants kill 5 Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Israeli strikes kill 51 Palestinians, AP, 8 July 2025</ref> On 31 July, the Israeli military once again attacked Beit Hanoun. Colonel Netanel Shamaka asserted that Hamas members were still using tunnels in the city, and that the IDF's goal for this fifth offensive was to destroy the remainder of the tunnels.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> He also stated that "maybe 10 buildings" would remain afterward, because they were civilian buildings and did not contain tunnel entrances.<ref name=":2" /> In September 2025 it was reported that the last remaining buildings in Beit Hanoun had been destroyed.<ref name=":3" />
Educational and health institutions
There were twelve secondary, primary and agricultural schools in Beit Hanoun and an agricultural college which is related to al-Azhar University – Gaza. There was a medical center and hospital in the city and several clinics mostly managed by the United Nations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> All of these were destroyed during the Gaza war.
Demographics
In 1922, Beit Hanoun had a population of 885.<ref name=Census1922/> In 1931, the population slightly decreased to 849.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The population then increased to 946 in 1938.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Up to this point, the population had been entirely Muslim. The population increased again by 1945 to 1,730 (1,680 Muslims and 50 Jews).<ref name=1945p31/><ref name=Hadawi45/> In 1961, the population rose to 3,876.<ref name="PR">Template:Cite web</ref>
Beit Hanoun's residents came from various origins. These included people Egypt, Kurds from Hebron, the Hauran (southwest Syria), Transjordan, and Bedouin communities.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref>
In the first official census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Beit Hanoun had a population of 20,780. Over 90% of the residents were Palestinian refugees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There were 10,479 males and 10,301 females. People of 14 years of age or younger constituted the majority at 65.6%, people between the ages of 20 and 44 were 26.8%, 45 to 64 was 5.7%, and residents above the age of 65 were 1.9%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Before the Gaza war, Beit Hanoun was home to an estimated 60,000 people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has since been entirely depopulated as a result of the Gaza war, and all of its structures have been destroyed.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sister cities
- Template:Flag icon Osmangazi, Turkey<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flag icon Selçuklu, Turkey<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:Flag icon Zeytinburnu, Turkey<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
Bibliography
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External links
- Welcome To The City of Bayt Hanun
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 19: IAA, Wikimedia commons
Template:Cities in the Gaza Strip Template:North Gaza Governorate