page_title: Ni'ilya
section_title: British Mandate era
hierarchical_section_title: Ni'ilya / History / British Mandate era
caption_attribution_description: English: Ashkelon 1945 1:250,000
context_page_description: Ni'ilya was a Palestinian village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on November 4, 1948, under Operation Yo'av. It was located 19 km northeast of Gaza in the city territory of modern Ashkelon. The village was defended by the Egyptian Army.
context_section_description: In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Na'lia had a population of 687 inhabitants, all Muslims, while in the 1931 census, Na'lia had 169 occupied houses and a population of 893 Muslims.
  In the 1930s the village mosque was inspected by Mayer from the Department of Antiquities. His report said: "Mosque on sand dune outside village on the South (see sketch plan). S. and W. walls entirely covered by sand. The mikhrab is flanked with two marble shafts and inscription on a fragment of column is placed over  the column on the left side. Waqf property. The mosque is still in religious use. Inscription in ordinary writing, 8 lines, irregular height of letters. Measurement of the inscription, 0.38m (hgt) by 0.31m breadth over concave surface. Date given 645 AH (1247 CE). The inscription could not be photographed."
  In the  1945 statistics this had increased to 1310 Muslims,  with a total of 5,233 dunams of land.  Cultivated lands in the village in 1944–45 included a total of 1,084 dunums used for citrus and bananas, 2,215  dunums for cereals. An additional 1,436 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations, while 29 dunams were  built-up, urban, land.
  Ni'ilya students attended school in al-Majdal. A school was built in the village in 1948 shortly before the war but never opened. The village also had a mosque.
caption: Ni'ilya 1945 1:250,000
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