Qibya

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Qibya is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, about 30 kilometers northwest of Ramallah. It is in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate and covers about 16.5 square kilometers. In 2017, roughly 6,090 people lived there.

The name Qibya means “domed” in Arabic, and its name also has Aramaic roots meaning “the cistern.” The village sits near Ni'lin to the east, Shuqba to the north, the Green Line to the west, and Budrus and Ni'lin to the south.

Qibya has a long history. Nearby, people have found artifacts from Roman, Byzantine, Mamluk, and early Ottoman times. A Bar Kokhba Revolt coin was found in a cave nearby, suggesting it was used as a refuge. A building possibly dating from the Crusader era has also been found. In Ottoman times, Qibya appeared in tax records, and during the British Mandate the population grew gradually.

After 1948, Qibya came under Jordanian rule. In October 1953, Israeli forces carried out what is known as the Qibya massacre, killing 67 to 69 unarmed civilians and destroying much of the village. The United States condemned the attack and temporarily suspended aid to Israel.

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, Qibya has been under Israeli occupation. The 1995 accords divided the land into Areas B and C: about 21.5% of Qibya’s land was Area B and 78.5% was Area C. Israel has also confiscated land there to build the West Bank barrier. The village received media attention around the 2001 Israeli elections.