Jilya, like all of Palestine was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In the 1596 tax registers, it was listed as an entirely Muslim village, located in the nahiyaofGazza in the liwaofGazza, with a population of 17 families; an estimated population of 94.[6][7] The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 2,200 akçe.[6]
In 1882 the SWP described it as "an ordinary village of adobe and stone."[2]
In the 1945 statistics, the population had increased to 330 Muslims,[3][4] while the total land area was 10,347 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[4] Of this, a total of 7,677 dunums of village land was used for cereals, 40 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations,[10] while 7 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[11]
Jilya was depopulated on July 9–10, 1948.[5] On 16 July 1948, during Operation An-Far, Givati HQ informed General Staff\Operations that "our forces have entered the villages of Qazaza, Kheima, Jilya, Idnibba, Mughallis, expelled the inhabitants, [and] blown up and torched a number of houses. The area is at the moment clear of Arabs."[12] On the July 19th, refugees near Jilya were warned by Israeli forces that they would be killed if they tried to return to their village.[13]
In 1992 it was noted about the village site: "The area is fenced in and inaccessible".[7]
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 115
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 165
^Givati HQ to General Staff\Operations, 20:50 hours, 16 July 1948, IDFA 922\75\\1176. See also Givati Brigade, "Combat Page", 16 July 1948, IDFA 6127\49\\118. Cited in Morris, 2004, pp. 436–7
