SATĀF – JERUSALEM DISTRICT
31°46′18″N / 35°7′39″E
1948: Population 626; Houses 165
Occupation date: July 13, 1948
Occupying forces: Harʼel Brigade
Occupying operation: Operation Dani
Post 1948: In the aftermath of the 1948 war, a small group of Jewish immigrants from North Africa settled for a few months in the village. In the 1950s the village land served as a training site for the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) Unit 101 and paratroopers.8
Today: The JNF leases parts of the agricultural land of Satāf to Israelis who harvest it for domestic consumption. The former village of Satāf currently lies within the JNF’s Satāf Forest, and Satāf–Mt. Heret National Park. The tourist site, established by the JNF, bears the original name. In January 2014, the JNF inaugurated the IDF General Staff Grove near the former village site. Descending the slopes toward an agricultural pool within the park, the ruins of several houses—without roofs but with walls intact—remain.
Official Israeli name: The actual site of the former village currently has no official name, but the tourist site bears the original name Satāf.