TOWN OF BISĀN – BISĀN DISTRICT
31°36′26″N / 34°53′44″E
1948: Population 6,009; Houses unknown
Occupation date: May 12, 1948
Occupying forces: Golani Brigade
Occupying operation: Operation Gideon
Post 1948: After occupation, the approaches to the town were mined to prevent the inhabitants from returning, and in the following months many of the houses were destroyed. By April 1950, the village now known as Beit She’an had a population of 2,000 settlers.28 During the 1950s an absorption camp offering accommodation for new Jewish refugees from North Africa was constructed. It would later become a “development town.” In 1999, Beit She’an was incorporated as a city.
Today: The shell of the railway station, the al-Arba‛īn mosque, and the adjacent cemetery remain, in addition to the citadel and the former palace (saray). Several homes have been taken over by Israelis and turned into shops. The majority of the city remains in ruins and is uninhabited. A shopping mall has been built opposite the mosque.
Official Israeli name: Beit She’an