page_title: Iraq Suwaydan
section_title: 1948 and aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Iraq Suwaydan / History / 1948 and aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Iraq Suwaydan. 1948 aerial photograph from Palmach archives. Police Station top left. Signs of Negba battles to right.
context_page_description: Iraq Suwaydan was a Palestinian Arab village located 27 km northeast of Gaza City. It was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav against the defending Egyptian Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The village infrastructure, with the exception of the police station built by the British Mandate authorities, was destroyed.
context_section_description: On 12 May 1948, the British authorities withdrew, handing over the police fort to the Egyptian army, which then garrisoned it.
  The fort controlled the road between al-Majdal and Bayt Jibrin as well as the main road to the Negev. The village was captured and destroyed during Operation Yoav. Eight Israeli attempts to capture the fort failed. It finally fell on 9 November 1948 after a massive bombardment including air strikes by B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft.
  Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. In 1953 the moshav of Yad Natan was founded east of Iraq Suwaydan on village lands. In 1955 another moshav named Otzem was established on village lands to the southeast and in 1956, kibbutz Sde Yoav was established west of the site, close to village land.
  In 1992, remains of houses could be seen in a eucalyptus grove that the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi identified as the center of the village, along with cacti and remnants of a pool. Two roads, one passing through the village and the other leading to fields, were recognizable. The British police station, renamed Metzudat Yo'av, was still in use and the surrounding lands were cultivated by Israeli farmers.
caption: Iraq Suwaydan. 1948 aerial photograph from Palmach archives. Police Station top left. Signs of Negba battles to right.
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