Beit Lahia

Beit Lahia (Arabic: بيت لاهيا‎) is a city located in the Gaza Strip north of Jabalia, near Beit Hanoun and the 1949 Armistice Line with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 59,540 in mid-year 2006.Hamas, an Islamist party, took control of it during the 2005 municipal elections, and is still administering the city, together with the entire Gaza Strip.

Geography

The word "Lahia" is Syriac and means "desert" or "fatigue". It is surrounded by sand dunes, some rise to 55 m (180 ft) above sea level. The area is renowned for its many large sycamore fig trees. The city is known for its fresh, sweet water, berries and citrus trees. According to Edward Henry Palmer, "Lahia" was from "Lahi", a personal name.

History

Beit Lahia has an ancient hill and nearby lay abandoned village ruins. It has been suggested that it was Bethelia, home town of Sozomen, where there was a temple. Ceramics from the Byzantine period have been found. A mihrab, or mosque alcove indicating the direction of salaah (prayer), is all that remains of an ancient mosque to the west of Beit Lahia dating to the end of the Fatamid period and beginning of the Ayyubid Dynasty of Saladin, and two other mosques dating to the Ottoman period.