Hiribya

Hiribya
Hiribya
Arabic	هربيا
Name meaning	Herbieh, p.n., from "to take flight".
Also spelled	Hirbya, Herbieh
Subdistrict	Gaza
Coordinates	31°36′21″N 34°32′47″E / 31.60583°N 34.54639°E / 31.60583; 34.54639Coordinates: 31°36′21″N 34°32′47″E / 31.60583°N 34.54639°E / 31.60583; 34.54639
Palestine grid	107/112
Population	2,300 (1945)
Area	23,312 dunams 23.3 km²
Date of depopulation	late October–November 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Secondary cause	Expulsion by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Zikim,Karmia,Yad Mordechai

Hirbiya Arabic: هربيا‎‎ was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict, located 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) northeast of Gaza along the southern coastal plain of Palestine. Situated where the Battle of La Forbie took place in 1244, it was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Settlement at the site of Hirbiya dates back to the Canaanite period.

It was known as "Forbie" to the Crusaders. In 1226, the Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi called it "Firbiya" and noted that it was within the administrative jurisdiction of Ascalon. The village was the site of a crucial battle, called the Battle of La Forbie, between the Crusaders and the Ayyubids, which ended in a decisive Ayyubid victory. Historians consider it second in strategic significance to the Battle of Hattin in 1187. A circular well, made of masonry, and the foundations of a small tower was still found there in the late 19th century.

Hirbiya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with the rest of Palestine, by 1596 it was located in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza, a part of the Liwa of Gaza. With a population of 963, it paid taxes on wheat, barley, grapes, fruit, and cotton.

In the late 19th century, Hirbiya had a rectangular layout, although some of its adobe brick houses were scattered in surrounding orchards. The village was surrounded by a pond, a well, and several gardens. To the south were remains of the Crusader fortress.

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