south and a well on the north supply the place. Near the latter there is a pointed archway of good masonry, apparently mediæval work, and there are foundations of hewn stones in the village. [The well] Bir Summeil is south of the village, is also a well-built masonry well, and the place evidently dates back to Crusading times at least." In the late 19th century, Summil had a semi-circular plan. British Mandate of Palestine During the British Mandate period, the village expanded toward the southwest and relied on al-Faluja for commercial, medical, and administrative services. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Summail had a population of 561 inhabitants, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census, to 692, still all Muslims, in 178 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population of Summeil consisted of 950 Muslims and the total land area was 19,304 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, a total of 54 dunams were used plantations and irrigable land, 18,720 for cereals, while 31 dunams were built-up areas. A mosque built on the remnants of a Crusader church was maintained by the Muslim inhabitants. Village houses were built of adobe brick and a school opened in 1936. By the mid-1940s it had an enrollment of 88 students. The community obtained domestic water from a deep well named "al-Khalil". 1948 and aftermath Summil was occupied by the Givati Brigade's thrust southward during the period in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War known as the Ten Days between the truces of July 8 and July 18, 1948. During this offensive, Israeli forces managed to occupy a broad swath of territory south of the Jerusalem-Ramla road, displacing over 20,000 people. Although Israeli military accounts later claimed that the inhabitants fled with the approach of Israeli columns, the Haganah spoke of "several cleaning operations" with Summil being one of the villages mentioned. Its inhabitants fled east toward the Hebron area. On July 19, 1948, an IDF patrol clashed with armed infiltrators at Summil, killing one and wounding another. The patrol warned any refugees they encountered that if any one of them entered "the areas under our control-they would be killed". The day after, on the July 20, the IDF were formally instructed to prevent infiltration to Summil, Barqusya, Bi´lin, Masmiya al Saghira, al-Tina, Kheima, Idnibba, Jilya, Qazaza, and Mughallis. The orders specifically were to "destroy"