Khursa (Arabic: كرزه) is a Palestinian village located seven kilometers south-west of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 3,481 in 2017.[1] The primary health care facilities for the village are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 2.[2]
Khursa | |
---|---|
Arabic transcription(s) | |
• Arabic | كرزه |
• Latin | Kharsa (official) |
Khursa Location of Khursa within Palestine | |
Coordinates: 31°28′58″N 35°1′2″E / 31.48278°N 35.01722°E | |
Palestine grid | 150/094 |
State | State of Palestine |
Governorate | Hebron |
Government | |
• Type | Village council |
Population (2017)[1] | |
• Total | 3,481 |
According to Palmer, the name Khirbet Kurza means "the ruin of kurza", a pine cone.[3]
According to an oral tradition from Dura, Khursa was destroyed in an attack by the people of Dura. This event probably happened during the seventeenth century AD. According to this story, those who lived in Khursa then moved to Bayt Jibrin.[4]
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine found here "walls, caves, a well, and a vault, probably a cistern. There were several cisterns and a sacred place to the west. Some of the ruins appear to be modern, some ancient."[5]