Ghabbatiyya was a Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 hamlet in the District of Safad

District of Safad

The District of Safad was an administrative district, situated in the British Mandate of Palestine around the city of Safad. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the district disintegrated.-Depopulated settlements:...

. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

 on October 30, 1948 under Operation Hiram

Operation Hiram

Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army forces led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and a Syrian battalion...

. It was located 12 km northwest of Safad.

In 1945 it had a population of 60 people.

History

The village was located on a rugged hill between Mount al-Jarmaq (1208 m) and Mount ‘Adathir (1009m). Three wadis in the vicinity supplied Ghabbatiyya with water. The Palestine Gazetteer revealed that it was classified as a hamlet with only 60 people in 1945. The entire village population was Muslim, primarily involved in agriculture and animal husbandry. In 1944/45 a total area of 412 dunums was allocated to cereal farming. A road connected to highways that led to Safad and Nahariyya, a Jewish settlement on the Mediterranean.

Israeli forces occupied Ghabbatiyya on 30 October 1948, during the second phase of Operation Hiram

Operation Hiram

Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army forces led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and a Syrian battalion...

and according to an Israeli army spokesman, several hundred of the area’s Arab Liberation Army garrison were killed, and several hundred taken prisoner.