Kharas

Kharas (Arabic: خاراس‎) is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank, located twelve kilometers northwest of Hebron, part of the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,665 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated at the northern mouth of the Wadi ’Arab near the ruins of 'Elah. Nearby towns include Nuba and Beit Ula to the south, Surif to the north and Halhul to the east. It has a total land area of 6,781 dunams.

History

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Kharas S 14° E from Bayt Nattif. In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kharas as "a small village standing high on the side of one of the lower hills, with olives round it. On the east is a well."

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kharas had a population of 577, all Muslim, increasing in the 1931 census to 739, still all Muslim, in 153 houses.

In 1945 the population of Kharas was 970, all Arabs, and the land area 6,781 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 615 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,532 for cereals, while 38 dunams were built-up (urban) land.