Urif

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title: "Urif" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nablus-governorate", "villages-in-the-west-bank", "municipalities-of-palestine"] topic_path: "general/nablus-governorate" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urif" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
name’Urif
translit_lang1Arabic
translit_lang1_typeArabic
translit_lang1_infoعوريف
translit_lang1_type1Latin
translit_lang1_info1Orif (unofficial)
typeMunicipality type D (Village council)
image_skylineUrif193.jpg
pushpin_mapPalestine
pushpin_map_captionLocation of ’Urif within Palestine
coordinates
grid_namePalestine grid
grid_position171/174
subdivision_typeState
subdivision_nameState of Palestine
subdivision_type1Governorate
subdivision_name1Nablus
established_titleFounded
government_footnotestags --
government_typeVillage council
unit_prefdunam
population_footnotes
population_total3624
population_as_of2017
population_density_km2auto
blank_name_sec1Name meaning
blank_info_sec1from personal name
::

| name = ’Urif | translit_lang1 = Arabic | translit_lang1_type = Arabic | translit_lang1_info = عوريف | translit_lang1_type1 = Latin | translit_lang1_info1 = Orif (unofficial) | type = Municipality type D (Village council) | image_skyline = Urif193.jpg | image_caption = | pushpin_map = Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location of ’Urif within Palestine | image_map = | map_caption = | coordinates = | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 171/174 | subdivision_type = State | subdivision_name = State of Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Nablus | established_title = Founded | established_date = | government_footnotes = tags -- | government_type = Village council | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = dunam | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_total_dunam = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_min_m = | elevation_max_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 3624 | population_as_of = 2017 | population_note = | population_density_km2 = auto | blank_name_sec1 = Name meaning | blank_info_sec1 = from personal name | website = | footnotes =

Urif () is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located 13 kilometers (8 miles) south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 3,624 inhabitants in 2017.

Location

‘Urif is located 7.6km south of Nablus. It is bordered by ‘Einabus to the east, ‘Asira al Qibliya to the north, and Jamma’in to the west and south.

History

Ceramics from the late Roman have been found here. Dauphin writes that ceramics from the Byzantine era also have been found,

Crusader period

A woman of Dayr Urif, Sa'ida, was wed to Ahmad ibn Khalid ibn Qudama, a jurist and leader of Hanbali villagers in the Nablus area who fled from Crusader rule to Damascus between 1156 and 1173. Ahmad's grandson Diya al-Din (1173–1245) refers to the presence of Muslims in Urif during his lifetime.

The medieval town of Gerraa, today the ruin of Khirbet Jarra'a, was located to the west.

Ottoman era

Urif was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jabal Qubal of the liwa (district) of Nablus. It was noted as hali, empty, but a fixed tax rate of 33.3% was paid on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 2,800 akçe.

In 1838 Urif was noted as a Muslim village, part of the Jurat Merda subdistrict, located south of Nablus. In 1870, Victor Guérin found the village to occupy the top of a hill, and having about 450 inhabitants. In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Urif as: "A stone village, on high ground, with a few olives; supplied by wells and with a small spring to the east."

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Urif had a population of 270 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 403; 402 Muslims and 1 Christian, in 103 houses.

In the 1945 statistics the population was 520, all Muslims, while the total land area was 3,965 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,107 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 1,452 for cereals, while 32 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

Jordanian period

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Urif came under Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 710 inhabitants.

Post 1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Urif has been under Israeli occupation. As of 2014, 3,115 dunams (77%) of Urif land were Area B, while 949 (23%) were Area C. 58 dunums of Urif's land have been confiscated for the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.

Chronology of events and disturbances

  • On May 19, 2012, about 25 Jewish settlers, some of them carrying guns, set fire to the wheat fields of Urif, and shot one Palestinian man in the stomach.
  • On May 26, 2012, settlers from Yitzhar shot a youth from Urif. They then tied him up and proceeded to beat him. Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said that the shooting was a defensive act against a man who wielded a knife.
  • In 2013, settlers from Yitzhar reportedly smashed the window of a mosque in Urif and tried to burn it down.
  • In February, 2015, settlers from Yitzhar defaced the village school with graffiti, with 'Death to Arabs' sprayed alongside the Star of David in an alleged price tag attacks.
  • In July 2016, the IDF confiscated in Urif homemade weapons and ammunition, and lathes used to manufacture weapons, as well as apprehending four local Arab residents of Urif who sold such weapons.
  • In 2017, farmers from Urif were prevented from working on their land in Area B.
  • In May, 2021, as part of the 2021 demonstrations; Nidal Sael Safadi was killed in Urif by the Israeli army, while "trying to confront Israeli settlers who were storming the area".
  • In June 2023, it was the target – along with nearby Turmus Ayya and several other Palestinian villages – of Israeli settler terror attacks. After the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson called the incursions and attacks by armed Jewish settlers "acts of terror conducted by criminals", adding that the IDF had “failed to prevent” the attacks, described as “very grave”, and that such incidents "create terror" by pushing the attacked civilian populations "towards extremism".
  • On 5 September 2025, a 57-year-old man from Urif named Ahmed Shehadeh, was killed by Israeli forces near military checkpoints in Nablus.

File:201805 defenseless against settlers violence photoblog jamileh shhadeh urif.jpg |81 year old Jamileh Shehadeh, Urif, who had all her olive trees cut down by Israeli settlers File:201805 defenseless against settlers violence photoblog urif2.jpg |"Fight the enemy. Price Tag." Hebrew Graffiti spray-painted by Israeli settlers File:Itzhar01.jpg |Maqam (shrine) of Salman the Persian northeast of Urif

References

Bibliography

References

  1. [https://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.644338 Palestinian official: Jewish settlers deface West Bank school], February 26, 2015, [[Haaretz]]
  2. (February 2018). "Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017". [[State of Palestine]].
  3. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/246/mode/1up 246]
  4. [http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Urif_vp_en.pdf ‘Urif Village Profile], ARIJ, p. 4
  5. Dauphin, 1998, p. 803
  6. but Ellenblum writes that no pottery from that era has been found here.Ellenblum, 2003, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=riHMZiH_Te4C&pg=PA263 263]
  7. Kedar and al-Hajjuj 1994, [https://books.google.com/books?id=96NtAAAAMAAJ&q="Dayr+Urif%22 pp. 147, 149].
  8. Ellenblum, 2003, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=riHMZiH_Te4C&pg=PA244 244]
  9. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 130
  10. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/127/mode/1up 127]
  11. Guérin, 1875, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n202/mode/1up 177]
  12. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/287/mode/1up 287]
  13. Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n27/mode/1up 25]
  14. Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 66]
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p19.jpg 19]
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Nablus/Page-061.jpg 61]
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Nablus/Page-108.jpg 108]
  18. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Nablus/Page-158.jpg 158]
  19. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p25.pdf 25]
  20. [http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Urif_vp_en.pdf ‘Urif Village Profile], ARIJ, 2014, p. 15
  21. [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-settler-shoots-palestinian-in-west-bank-1.432743 Israeli Settler Shoots Palestinian in West Bank], May 26, 2012, [[Haaretz]]
  22. [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/idf-inquiry-finds-israeli-youth-tied-and-beat-palestinian-after-shot-by-settlers-1.434004 IDF Inquiry Finds Israeli Youth Tied and Beat Palestinian After Shot by Settlers], June 3, 2012, [[Haaretz]]
  23. Lazaroff, Tovah. (29 May 2012). "Palestinian, settler violence caught on tape again". The Jerusalem Post.
  24. Kalman, Matthew. (30 April 2013). "Israelis burn Palestinian fields and stone vehicles in West Bank after father is stabbed to death at settlement bus stop". The Independent.
  25. Levinson, Chaim. (30 April 2013). "Israeli settlers riot after West Bank terror attack, 6 arrested". Haaretz.
  26. (2 May 2013). "Video footage shows the army failed in its duty to protect Palestinians from settler revenge attacks". B'Tselem.
  27. (11 July 2016). "N12 - נעצרו יצרני וסוחרי נשק ליד שכם".
  28. [https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Barred-access-to-his-farmlands-twice-Palestinian-farmer-says-he-will-wait-for-IDFs-help-485887 Twice barred Palestinian farmer says he will wait for IDF permission], April 2, 2017, [[Jerusalem Post]]
  29. [https://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium-1.780981 In the West Bank, the tail wags the dog. When civilian security officers are dictating policy on the ground, to whom should Palestinian farmers in Urif turn?], April 2, 2017, [[Amira Hass]], Haaretz
  30. [https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-west-bank-protests-killed Palestinians killed in West Bank as Israeli crackdown intensifies], Shatha Hammad, 14 May 2021, [[Middle East Eye]]
  31. "20 Countries Rail at Israel for Settler Mob Attacks on Palestinians, IDF Condemns as 'Terror'". Haaretz.
  32. ToI Staff. "IDF spokesman slams settler riots that 'create terror'; far-right MK: It was a protest".
  33. (6 September 2025). "Israeli forces fatally shoot Palestinian, injure 3 in occupied West Bank".
  34. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft/page/191/mode/1up 191]

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