| al-Ruways | |
| Arabic | الرويس |
| Also Spelled | al-Ruweis |
| District | Acre |
| Coordinates | 32°51′50.01″N 35°10′40.46″E / 32.8638917°N 35.1779056°ECoordinates: 32°51′50.01″N 35°10′40.46″E / 32.8638917°N 35.1779056°E |
| Population | 330 (1945) |
| Area | 1,163[1] dunums
1.2 km² |
| Date of depopulation | July 15-16, 1948[2] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
al-Ruways (Arabic: الرويس) was a Palestinian Arab village of 330 on a rocky hill located 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) southeast of Acre and south of al-Damun.[3]
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Al-Ruways stood on the site of the Crusader town of Careblier.[3] In 1266, a Crusader vanguard returning from a raid in Tiberias to Acre was ambushed by Mamluk forces based in Safad in Careblier.[4] Based on tradition, the people of the village professed to have blood relations with Hussam ad-Din Abu al-Hija. Hussam ad-Din was a high ranking officer in the Ayyubid army of Saladin.[5]
In the late nineteenth century, al-Ruways was situated on open ground with olive groves to the north of the village. Its population of 400 was entirely Muslim.[6] Under the British Mandate of Palestine in the early twentieth century, al-Ruways was one of the smallest villages in the District of Acre, with a population of 217 in 1931, and consisting of two quarters. The village had a mosque, its children attended school in nearby al-Damun. The villagers drinking water came from domestic wells, and they primarily grew wheat, corn, sesame, watermelons, and olives.[3] In Sami Hadawi's population survey, al-Ruways had a population of 330 in 1945.[7]
On July 18, 1948, two days after Nazareth was occupied by Israel's Seventh Brigade in Operation Dekel, some units advanced into the Western Galilee and captured a number of Arab villages, one of which was al-Ruways. The inhabitants fled after bombardment and the fall of major neighboring towns (Shefa-'Amr and Nazareth).[8][9] According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, "the site is deserted. The debris of old wells and cement roofs is strewn of over the site, which is otherwise covered by a forest of eucalyptus trees and cactus."[8]
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