Hunin

Hunin ( ) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Galilee Panhandle part of Mandatory Palestine close to the Lebanese border. It was the second largest village in the district of Safed , but was depopulated in 1948. Hunin was one of the seven Shiite villages, and 17 other villages, that were transferred from the French to the British spheres in 1924 on the basis of the border agreement of 1923. In 1945 the population of the village was 1620. In May 1948, during hostilities between Arab and Israeli forces, Hunin received an evacuation order from Arab authorities, but the departure of all but 400 residents was the result of a Palmach raid. Four village women were raped and murdered by Israeli soldiers during the summer. In August 1948 village notables approached Kibbutz Kfar Giladi , declaring their willingness to be good citizens of Israel. Their proposal was conveyed to the Israeli government, where it received enthusiastic support from the Minorities Minister Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit . However, most of the residents were expelled in late August and the remainder in early September when the Carmeli Brigade raided the village killing 20 and blowing up 20 buildings including the mosque. Most of the villagers took refuge in Shiite villages in Lebanon. Palestine, 1948 : War, Escape and the Emergence of the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2 ed.). Middle East Journal . 60 (4): 685– 706. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited .¹