Al‑Jammasīn al‑Sharqī (Arabic: الجمعة الشرقي, also transliterated as Al‑Jammasin al‑Sharqiyya) was a Palestinian Arab village located in the Gaza Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. The village lay approximately 3 kilometres northeast of the city of Gaza, on the coastal plain near the Mediterranean shoreline.
Geography
The village was situated on relatively flat terrain at an elevation of about 10 metres above sea level. It was surrounded by agricultural lands that were cultivated primarily for cereals, citrus, and vegetables. The built-up area of the village occupied a modest portion of the total land, with the remainder used for farming and grazing.
Historical background
During the Ottoman period, Al‑Jammasīn al‑Sharqī was part of the larger administrative district (kaza) of Gaza. The village continued to exist through the British Mandate era, when it was recorded in official censuses and land surveys.
Demographics
According to the British Mandate’s 1931 census, Al‑Jammasīn al‑Sharqī had a population of 1,106 Muslims residing in 215 houses. By the 1945 Village Statistics, the population had increased to 1,250 Muslims. The total land area recorded for the village was 5,438 dunams (approximately 5.44 km²), of which 3,892 dunams were classified as cultivable (cereals, orchards, and irrigated land) and the remainder as built-up or uncultivated land.
Depopulation (1948)
Al‑Jammasīn al‑Sharqī was depopulated in the context of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The village’s residents fled or were expelled on 13 May 1948 following a military operation by the Haganah’s Givati Brigade, part of the broader hostilities in the Gaza area. The exact circumstances—whether the departure was primarily due to direct assault, fear of advancing forces, or orders from Arab leadership—are recorded in contemporary accounts as a “military assault.”
Aftermath
Following the 1948 war, the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian administration and later Israeli occupation (1967–2005). The site of Al‑Jammasīn al‑Sharqī remained largely undeveloped; the original structures fell into ruin, and the land returned to agricultural use by neighboring communities. No new Israeli localities were established on the former village lands.
Legacy
The village is listed among the many Palestinian localities that were depopulated during the 1948 conflict. Its former residents and their descendants are part of the Palestinian refugee population, many of whom live in refugee camps within the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries. The memory of Al‑Jammasīn al‑Sharqī is preserved in oral histories, archival records, and scholarly works documenting the demographic and geographic changes of the region during the mid‑twentieth century.
