Al-Malkiyya

In 1596, al-Malikiyya was a village in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 369. It paid taxes on a number of crops, such as wheat, barley, as well as goats and beehives.[8][9]

Victor Guérin visited in 1875, and noted that Al-Malkiyya had 300 Metawali inhabitants.[10] He further noted that the village, which stood upon a lofty summit, was remarkable for possessing neither well nor cistern; the women fetched their water from the spring at Kades. But a birkeh was placed on the map close to the village.[11]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Al-Malkiyya as being built of stone and adobe, lying on a plain to the east of a valley. Well supplied with water from a nearby wadi, the village's 200-300 inhabitants cultivated olives.[12]

In the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, El Malikiya had a population of 254, all Muslims, in 48 houses.[13]

The population was 360 Muslims in the 1945 statistics,[4] with a total of 7,328 dunams of land.[3] A total of 4,225 dunums were allocated to cereals,[14] while 55 dunams were classifies as built-up land.[15]

Al-Malikiyya changed hands no fewer than five times between May and October 1948.[6]

A battle was fought in the village on 5–6 June 1948. Combatants were Israelis and the Lebanese army commanded by then Lebanese minister of defense, Emir Majid Arslan II. The Lebanese army would occupy the village for a month. This was the only time Lebanon directly participated in the war.[16]

As a result of the war, the village was depopulated.

In 1949, a kibbutz, Malkiya, was set up on village lands.

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  Members of the Yiftach Brigade entering al-Malikiyya, May 1948
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  Al Malikiyya, 1948. Medic from Yiftach Brigade in foreground