Ottoman period In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as being in the nahiya ("Subdistrict") of Tabariyya under the Liwa ("District") of Safad with a population of 14 Muslim households. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 2,200 akçe. A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as Iaffa. In 1838 Edward Robinson described it as a small village, with 30 houses and the remains of a church. He further noted it as a Muslim and Greek Christian village in the Nazareth district. When Guérin visited in 1875, he found 400 inhabitants including Latins, Greek Orthodox, and Moslems. There were also Protestant schools in the village. In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as a "moderate-sized village in a strong position on the spur running from Nazareth down to Jebata. It has a well to the north side and a second in the valley to the north-east." A population list from about 1887 showed that Yafa had about 900 inhabitants; half Muslims, half Christians. British Mandate In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yafa had a total population of 615; 215 Muslims and 400 Christians, Of the Christians, 168 were Orthodox, 112 Catholics, 108 Greek Catholic (Melchite) and 12 Anglicans. The population had increased at the 1931 census, when Yafa, (including Arab el Ghazzalin), had a population of 833; 456 Muslims and 377 Christians, in a total of 213 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population size of Yafa was 1,070; 580 Muslims and 490 Christians, with a total of 17,809 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 710 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 12,701 used for cereals, while 149 dunams were built-up (urban) land. In 1921, a synagogue lintel was found there, and in 1950 part of a synagogue paved with mosaics was excavated near the Greek Orthodox church. State of Israel In 1948 Yafa was captured by the Israeli army during Operation Dekel which was launched in July. The remaining population were put under martial law which remained in force until 1966. A substantial portion of Yafa's population today are