Hulayqat

Hulayqat
Hulayqat, before 1948
Arabic	حليقات
Name meaning	the circles
Subdistrict	Gaza
Palestine grid	116/112
Population	420 (1945)
Date of depopulation	May 12, 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation	Influence of nearby town's fall

Hulayqat was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 20.5 km northeast of Gaza.

Hulayqat had numerous khirbas which contained cisterns, a pool, and fragments of marble and pottery.

In 1838, in the Ottoman era, Huleikat was noted as village in the Gaza district.

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Hulayqat had a population of 55, with a total of 14 houses, though the population count included men, only.

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "small village on a flat slope, with a high sandy hill to the west. It has cisterns and a pond, with a small garden to the west.”

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Hukiqat had a population of 251 inhabitants, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 285, still all Muslims, in 61 houses.

In 1945 Huleiqat had a population of 420 Muslims, with a total of 7,063 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 115 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 6,636 for cereals, while they had 18 dunams as built-up land.

In 1947, an oil drilling project commenced in Hulayqat employing 300 Arab workers.

The village was first captured by the Israeli army on 13 May during Operation Barak and depopulated. On 8 July, it was retaken by the Egyptian army. A well-fortified battalion of the 4th Brigade was stationed there later reinforced by more troops. and some of the villagers returned to their homes. It was finally captured on 19 October by the Giv'ati Brigade during Operation Yoav.

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