Shia villages in Palestine

In 1923 and 1924, France and the United Kingdom re-adjusted the boundary between Greater Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine after years of negotiations. As part of this change, seven villages in which the population was predominantly Shia Muslim (i.e., Metouali) were transferred to Palestine: Tarbikha, Saliha, Malkiyeh, Nabi Yusha, Qadas, Hunin, and Abil al-Qamh.^[1] Having come under British control, the residents were classified as Palestinians in 1926, one year after the United Kingdom issued Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, all of these villages were depopulated by Israel and the majority of their inhabitants fled to Lebanon, where they were registered as Palestinian refugees.

In 1994, the people who fled from these seven Shia villages were granted Lebanese citizenship and ceased to be recognized as Palestinians or refugees. Some Lebanese political parties and militias, such as Hezbollah, have asserted that the sites of these villages in northern Israel belong to Lebanon.

These villages are notable for having been the only Shia settlements in what was otherwise a territory dominated by Sunni Muslims. To date, despite Shia Islam constituting the second-largest Islamic sect, there are no reliable sources attesting a Shia presence in Israel or the State of Palestine.