Editing Ashkelon (section)

==History==
{{main|Ascalon}}

===Canaanites to Mamluks===
{{see also|Gaza wine|Gaza Jar}}

The archaeological site of [[Ascalon]], today known as Tel Ashkelon, was the oldest and largest seaport in [[Canaan]], part of [[Philistia]], the [[pentapolis]] (a grouping of five cities) of the [[Philistines]], north of [[Gaza City]] and south of [[Jaffa]].

The site was an important city during [[Timeline of the Palestine region#Roman period|Roman]], [[Timeline of the Palestine region#Byzantine period|Byzantine]] and [[Bilad al-Sham|pre-Crusades Muslim rule]], and particularly during the period of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], due to its location near the coast and between the [[Crusader states]] and Egypt. The [[Battle of Ascalon]] was the last action of the [[First Crusade]]. In 1270, the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk sultan]] [[Baybars]] ordered the fortifications and harbour at the site to be destroyed. As a result, the city was abandoned by its inhabitants and fell into disuse.

[[File:Church of St. Stephen, mosaic depicting the city of Askalon (Ashkelon), Um er-Rasas, Jordan.jpg | thumb |center| Depiction of Askalon (Ashkelon) in the [[Umm ar-Rasas mosaics]], 8th century CE]]

===Ottoman period===

The Palestinian village of [[Al-Jura]] (El-Jurah) stood northeast of and immediately adjacent to Tel Ashkelon and is documented in Ottoman tax registers. El-Jurah was depopulated during the 1948 war.

The Arab village of Majdal was mentioned by historians and tourists at the end of the 15th century.<ref name="Orna">{{cite book | author = Orna Cohen | title = "Transferred to Gaza of Their Own Accord" The Arabs of Majdal in Ashkelon and their Evacuation to the Gaza Strip in 1950 | publisher = The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | year = 2007}}</ref> In 1596, Ottoman records showed Majdal to be a large village of 559 Muslim households, making it the 7th-most-populous locality in Palestine after [[Safed|Safad]], [[Jerusalem]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Nablus]], [[Hebron]] and [[Kafr Kanna]].<ref name=Hutteroth>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 144</ref><ref name="Petersen">Petersen, Andrew (2005). ''The Towns of Palestine under Muslim Rule AD 600–1600''. BAR International Series 1381. p. 133.</ref>

An official Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that ''Medschdel'' had a total of 420 houses and a population of 1175, though the population count included men only.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/157/mode/1up 157]</ref><ref>Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n939/mode/1up 131], noted 655 houses</ref>

[[File:Ashkelon1870s.jpg |thumb|center| The area of modern Ashkelon cover the land of: Al Majdal, [[Hamama]], [[Al-Jura]], [[Al-Khisas, Gaza|Al-Khisas]] and [[Ni'ilya]]. The ruins of [[Ascalon]] are also shown on the left hand side. Images from the 1871–77 [[PEF Survey of Palestine]].]]

===British Mandate===

In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], ''Majdal'' had a population of 5,064; 33 Christians and 5,031 [[Muslims]],<ref name=Census1922>Barron, 1923,  Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n10/mode/1up 8]</ref> increasing in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 6,226 (6,166 Muslims and 41 Christians) with 172 in the suburbs (167 Muslims, 4 Christians, and one Jew).<ref name=PalestineStats>Palestine Office of Statistics, Vital Statistical Tables 1922–1945, Table A8.</ref>

In the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]] Majdal had a population of 9,910; ninety Christians and 9,820 Muslims,<ref name=1945p30>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p32.jpg 32]</ref> with a total (urban and rural) of 43,680 [[dunam]]s of land, according to an official land and population survey. 2,050 dunams were public land; all the rest was owned by Arabs.<ref name=Hadawi46>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Gaza/Page-046.jpg 46]</ref> of the dunams, 2,337 were used for citrus and bananas, 2,886 were plantations and irrigable land, 35,442 for cereals,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-087.jpg 87]</ref> while 1,346 were built-up land.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi,  1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-137.jpg 137]</ref>

Majdal was known for its weaving industry.<ref>[https://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=13668&mag_id=121 Ashqelon, Eli Cohen Street]</ref> The town had around 500 looms in 1909. In 1920 a British Government report estimated that there were 550 cotton looms in the town with an annual output worth 30–40 million [[French franc|francs]].<ref>{{cite news |title=H.M. Stationery Office (1920) ''Syria and Palestine'' — Viewer — World Digital Library |url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/11774/view/1/1/#q=Israel |newspaper=The Library of Congress |language=en}}</ref> But the industry suffered from imports from Europe and by 1927 only 119 weaving establishments remained. The three major fabrics produced were "malak" (silk), 'ikhdari' (bands of red and green) and 'jiljileh' (dark red bands). These were used for festival dresses throughout Southern Palestine. Many other fabrics were produced, some with poetic names such as ''ji'nneh u nar'' ("heaven and hell"), ''nasheq rohoh'' ("breath of the soul") and ''abu mitayn'' ("father of two hundred").<ref>Shelagh Weir, "Palestinian Costume". British Museum Publications, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-7141-1597-9}}. pages 27–32. Other fabrics produced include ''Shash'' (white muslin for veils), ''Burk''/''Bayt al-shem'' (plain cotton for underdresses), ''Karnaish'' (white cotton with stripes), "Bazayl" (flannelette), ''Durzi'' (blue cotton) and ''Dendeki'' (red cotton).</ref>

In addition to agriculture, residents practiced [[animal husbandry]] which formed was an important source of income for the town. In 1943, they owned 354 heads of [[cattle]], 168 [[sheep]] over a year old, 170 [[goat]]s over a year old, 65 [[camel]]s, 17 [[horse]]s, 39 [[mule]]s, 447 [[donkey]]s, 2966 [[fowl]]s, and 808 [[Domestic pigeon|pigeons]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2024-10-10 |title=Hamama: The Palestinian Countryside in Bloom (1750–1948) |url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JIA/article/view/26586 |journal=Journal of Islamic Archaeology |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=93 |doi=10.1558/jia.26586 |issn=2051-9729}}</ref>

<gallery>
El Majdal-Survey-of-Palestine-3-4-5-6-combined.jpg|1931-2 map of central El Majdal. Nearly all Palestinians who lived here and survived the 1947-8 [[Nakba]] were at first confined to a ghetto, then later expelled
Majdal11.png|Weavers in Majdal, 1934–39
</gallery>

===State of Israel===
[[File:Ashkelon region in the 1950s.jpg|thumb|The beginnings of the modern city of Ashkelon shown in the 1950s [[Survey of Israel]]. The built up area labeled אשקלון (Ashkelon) is the area previously known as Majdal. To the left is Afridar. The ruins of [[Hamama]], [[Al-Jura]], [[Ni'ilya]] and [[Al-Khisas, Gaza|Al-Khisas]] are also shown.]]

Majdal was occupied by the Egyptian army in the early stages of the [[1948 Palestine war|1948 war]], along with the rest of the Gaza region that had been allocated to the Arab State in the United Nations plan. Over the next few months, the town was subjected to Israeli air-raids and shelling.<ref name="1948After"/> All but about 1,000 of the town's residents were forced to leave by the time it was captured by Israeli forces as a sequel to [[Operation Yoav]] on 4 November 1948.<ref name="1948After"/> General [[Yigal Allon]] ordered the expulsion of the remaining Palestinians but the local commanders did not do so and the Arab population soon recovered to more than 2,500 due mostly to refugees slipping back and also due to the transfer of Palestinians from nearby villages.<ref name="1948After"/><ref name="Orna"/> Most of them were elderly, women, or children.<ref name="Orna"/> During the next year or so, the Palestinians were held in a confined area surrounded by barbed wire, which became commonly known as the "ghetto".<ref name="Golan">{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/714003467 | author=Golan, Arnon | title=Jewish Settlement of Former Arab Towns and their Incorporation into the Israeli Urban System (1948–1950) | journal=Israel Affairs | year=2003 | volume=9 | issue=1–2 | pages=149–164 | s2cid=144137499  | issn=1353-7121}}</ref><ref name="Orna"/><ref name="MorrisBirth">Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA528 528] −529.</ref> [[Moshe Dayan]] and Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] were in favor of expulsion, while [[Mapam]] and the Israeli labor union [[Histadrut]] objected.<ref name="1948After"/> The government offered the Palestinians positive inducements to leave, including a favorable currency exchange, but also caused panic through night-time raids.<ref name="1948After"/> The first group was deported to the [[Gaza Strip]] by truck on 17 August 1950 after an expulsion order had been served.<ref>[[Sabri Jiryis|S. Jiryis]], The Arabs in Israel (1968), p.57</ref> The deportation was approved by Ben-Gurion and Dayan over the objections of [[Pinhas Lavon]], secretary-general of the Histadrut, who envisioned the town as a productive example of equal opportunity.<ref name="Kafkafi">{{cite journal | doi=10.1017/S0020743800066216 | author=Kafkafi, Eyal | title=Segregation or integration of the Israeli Arabs – two concepts in Mapai | journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies | year=1998 | volume=30 | issue=3 | pages=347–367 | s2cid=161862941 }}</ref> By October 1950, twenty Palestinian families remained, most of whom later moved to [[Lod|Lydda]] or Gaza.<ref name="1948After"/> According to Israeli records, in total 2,333 Palestinians were transferred to the Gaza Strip, 60 to Jordan, 302 to other towns in Israel, and a small number remained in Ashkelon.<ref name="Orna"/> Lavon argued that this operation dissipated "the last shred of trust the Arabs had in Israel, the sincerity of the State's declarations on democracy and civil equality, and the last remnant of confidence the Arab workers had in the Histadrut."<ref name="Kafkafi"/> Acting on an Egyptian complaint, the Egyptian-Israel [[Mixed Armistice Commission]] ruled that the Palestinians transferred from Majdal should be returned to Israel, but this was not done.<ref>{{cite journal | year = 1952 | title = Security Council | journal = International Organization | volume = 6 | issue = 1| pages = 76–88 | doi=10.1017/s0020818300016209| s2cid = 249414466 }}</ref>

Majdal was granted to Israel in the [[1949 Armistice Agreements]]. Re-population of the recently vacated Arab dwellings by Jews had been official policy since at least December 1948, but the process began slowly.<ref name="Golan"/> The Israeli national plan of June 1949 designated al-Majdal as the site for a regional [[Urban area|urban center]] of 20,000 people.<ref name="Golan"/> From July 1949, new immigrants and [[demobilization|demobilized]] soldiers moved to the new town, increasing the Jewish population to 2,500 within six months.<ref name="Golan"/> These early immigrants were mostly from [[Yemen]], [[North Africa]], and [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite web |script-title=he:מגדל־גד בהתפתחותה,בחירות ב־26 בפברואר – דבר |url=http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_Heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=o9Sbi1WIsHdoejWFtHsh3QLn0DMAzo4d0FWipSdDt34n%2BE0l6hHZL8hFphABg7HQYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=DAV%2f1950%2f02%2f10&page=9&rtl=true |website=jpress.org.il |language=he}}</ref>

In 1949, the town was renamed Migdal Gaza, and then Migdal Gad. Soon afterwards it became Migdal Ashkelon. The city began to expand as the population grew. In 1951, the neighborhood of Afridar was established for Jewish immigrants from [[South Africa]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benzaquen |first1=John |title=Neighborhood Watch: Ashkelon's 'Anglo quarter' |url=https://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Around-Israel/Neighborhood-Watch-Ashkelons-Anglo-quarter |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|date=19 November 2010 }}</ref> and in 1953 it was incorporated into the city. The current name Ashkelon was adopted and the town was granted [[Local council (Israel)|local council]] status in 1953.

In 1955, Ashkelon had more than 16,000 residents. By 1961, Ashkelon ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000.<ref name="Golan"/> This grew to 43,000 in 1972 and 53,000 in 1983. In 2005, the population was more than 106,000.

In 1949 and 1950, three immigrant transit camps ([[ma'abarot]]) were established alongside Majdal (renamed Migdal) for Jewish refugees from [[Arab world|Arab countries]], [[Romania]] and Poland. Northwest of Migdal and the immigrant camps, on the lands of the depopulated [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] village [[al-Jura]],{{sfn|Khalidi|1992|p=117}} entrepreneur [[Zvi Segal]], one of the signatories of Israel's Declaration of Independence, established the upscale Barnea neighborhood.<ref name="haaretz.com">{{cite news|last=Margalit |first=Talia |url=http://www.haaretz.com/general/periphery-without-a-center-1.107172 |title=Periphery without a center|work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=2011-08-10}}</ref>

A large tract of land south of Barnea was handed over to the trusteeship of the South African Zionist Federation, which established the neighborhood of Afridar. Plans for the city were drawn up in South Africa according to the [[Garden city movement|garden city]] model. Migdal was surrounded by a broad ring of orchards. Barnea developed slowly, but Afridar grew rapidly. The first homes, built in 1951, were inhabited by new Jewish immigrants from [[South Africa]] and South America, with some native-born Israelis. The first public housing project for residents of the transit camps, the Southern Hills Project (Hageva'ot Hadromiyot) or Zion Hill (Givat Zion), was built in 1952.<ref name="haaretz.com"/>

Under a plan signed in October 2015, seven new neighborhoods comprising 32,000 housing units, a new stretch of highway, and three new highway interchanges will be built, turning Ashkelon into the sixth-largest city in Israel.<ref>{{cite web |title=With 32,000 New Housing Units Ashkelon to Become Israel's 6th Largest City |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/with-32000-new-housing-units-ashkelon-to-become-israels-6th-largest-city/2015/10/30/ |website=jewishpress.com|date=30 October 2015 }}</ref>{{update inline|date=June 2023}}

<gallery>
The area around Isdud and Majdal in the UN Palestine Partition Versions 1947 (cropped).jpg|The area around Majdal had been allocated to the Arab state in the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]].
Ashqelon.jpg | High-rise residential development along the beach (2007)
Harlington Hotel, Ashkelon, 2004.jpg | Harlington Hotel and 13th-century tomb of Sheikh Awad
</gallery>