Nazla (Arabic: نزلة; also spelled al-Nazlah, Nazle, Annazla or en-Nuzleh[1]) is a Palestinian town in the Gaza Strip, in the North Gaza Governorate of the State of Palestine. It was formerly a municipality but was merged with the nearby city of Jabalia.[2] Nazla is located a few kilometers north of Gaza City.

Nazla
نزلة
Nazle
Town
Al-Nazlah
Nazla نزلة is located in Gaza Strip
Nazla نزلة
Nazla
نزلة
Location in Gaza Strip
Coordinates: 31°31′58″N 34°28′56″E / 31.53278°N 34.48222°E / 31.53278; 34.48222
Country Palestine
GovernorateNorth Gaza Governorate
CityJabalia
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)+3
Map

History

Nazla has been identified as the site of the Byzantine-era town of Asalea (Ασαλέα in Greek).[3][4] Asalea belonged to the city of Gaza during that period.[3] A celebrated Christian figure in Byzantine Gaza was Alaphion of Asalea who was known to be pious and was one of the early missionaries who helped spread Christianity in the area.[5] In the 6th century Madaba Map, Asalea is marked by three towers, a gate and a segment of a wall.[6]

Ottoman era

In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin found the village to have about 150 inhabitants.[7]

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Nazle had 114 houses and a population of 414, though the population count included only men.[8][9]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Nazla as a "small hamlet" and a suburb of Jabalia. To the east of Nazla was a well.[10]

British mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Nazla had a population of 694, all Muslim,[11] increasing in the 1931 census to 944, still all Muslims, in 226 houses.[12]

In the 1945 statistics Nazla had a population of 1,330, all Muslims,[13] with 4,510 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[14][15] Of this, 36 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 547 for plantations and irrigable land, 1,141 used for cereals,[16] while 24 dunams were built-up land.[17]

1948, and after

During Egyptian rule following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Nazla was one of six localities to establish a village council to administer its affairs. Israel occupied the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Six-Day War.[18][19] In the 1970s and 1980s, Israel developed building projects in Nazla, offering Palestinian refugee families subsidized rates to resettle there.[20]

References

Bibliography