Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah

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Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah is a small Palestinian village located southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. It sits on a hill about 950 meters (3,120 feet) above sea level and is administered as part of the Artas area in the Bethlehem Governorate. The village lies between the Israeli settlements of Alon Shevut and Rosh Tzurim, which were built on land taken from the village. In 2017, the population was 142.

The site has ancient roots and may be connected to the Battle of Beth Zechariah during the Maccabean revolt around 162 BCE. Three rock-cut burial caves from the 1st century BCE have been found, along with pottery from the Roman and Byzantine eras. A Byzantine-era church stood here, and today a mosque called Nabi-Zakariah sits on the site of the church, with some of the old church ruins visible in the courtyard and roof. Some houses in the village are built on top of ancient ruins and caves, including a columbarium (a tomb feature).

During the Crusader era, the area was known as Casale Zacharie and was granted to the church of Bethlehem between roughly 1155 and 1186. In the Ottoman period, records from 1538–39 place Beit Zakariyyah in the Halil nahiya, and by 1557 its revenues were linked to an imperial imaret in Jerusalem. In the 19th century, explorers described the village’s location on a promontory with surrounding valleys and noted remains of older structures, a mosque, and rock-cut tombs. French explorer Victor Guérin described columns in the mosque thought to come from a Byzantine church.

From 1943 to 1948, Jewish outposts were built on village land as part of the Etzion bloc. In January 1948, Arab forces attempted to capture the hill to split Gush Etzion but were defeated by Jewish forces in an important battle. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice, Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah came under Jordanian rule. The Etzion villages were depopulated during that period but re-established after 1967. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, the area has been under Israeli occupation. After the 1995 Oslo Accords, 100% of the village land was classified as Area C, under full Israeli control. According to ARIJ, land from Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah has been confiscated to build six Israeli settlements.