 The Ottoman Empire conquered most of Palestine from the Mamluks after the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1517 . As the army of Sultan Selim I moved south towards Egypt , Tarabay ibn <unk> , chieftain of the Bani <unk> , a Bedouin tribe from the Hejaz , supported them by contributing guides and scouts . When the Mamluks were completely uprooted and Selim returned to Istanbul , the Tarabays were granted the territory of Lajjun . The town eventually became the capital of the Sanjak ( " District " ) of Lajjun , which was a part of the province of Damascus , and encompassed the Jezreel Valley , northern Samaria , and a part of the north @-@ central coastline of Palestine as its territory . It was composed of four <unk> ( " sub @-@ districts " ) ( <unk> , Sahel Atlit , Sa 'ra , and <unk> ) , and encompassed a total of 55 villages , including Haifa , Jenin , and Baysan . 
