Qannir (Arabic: قنْير) was a Palestinian village, located 35 kilometers south of Haifa. With 750 inhabitants in 1945, it was depopulated in the lead up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
In 1859, the English consul Rogers estimated the population to be 250, who cultivated 24 feddans of land. By 1882, PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the place as a village of adobe of moderate size, with one well to the south, and another to the west.[8] By a later account, the village consisted of stone houses built side by side.[5]
A population list from about 1887 showed that el Kannir had about 665 inhabitants, all Muslim.[9]
In the 1945 statistics the population was 750 Muslims[2] with 10,826 dunums of land.[3] Of this, a total of 5,760 dunums were used for cereals; while 460 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[5][12] while 22 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[13]
Between 22–24 April 1948, the women and children of Qannir started to evacuate the village, apparently on [Arab] "orders from on high".[14][15]
According to a dispatch sent by Fawzi al-Qawuqji to the [Arab] High Command, an enemy attack from Ein Hashofeit started on 0400 on 8 May towards Quannir and Kafr Quari. The attackers were supported by armored cars. According to al-Qawuqji the attack was "resisted and repelled", with a result of one killed and four wounded on the Palestinian side.[16]
However, according to Haganah sources, the forces of the Alexandroni Brigade "raided the village on 9 May 1948, killed four Arabs and blew up 55 houses".[17] According to Morris, the remaining villagers probably left at this time.[18] Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel, with the kibbutzofRegavim established on the village's former lands in 1949.[5]
Stone rubble is strewn about the site, which is covered with thorns, fig trees, and cactus. Part of the adjacent land is used by Israelis as pasture and the other part is cultivated.[5]
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 91
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 141
^Morris, 2004, p. 175, note 67: "Summary of Intelligence for Alexandroni Brigade" (11.5.48), No. 8´IDFA (=Israel Defense Forces and Defence Ministry Archive) 2506\49\\80.
^Morris, 2004, p. 244 note 623: Tiroshi (Eitan)´to HIS-AD, 29 Apr. 1948, HA 105\257; and HIS-AD (=Haganah Intelligence Service -Arab Department) Information 29.4.48. IDFA 922\75\\1205.
