5 ▁statistics , ▁De ir ▁al - Bal ah ▁had ▁a ▁population ▁of ▁ 2 , 5 6 0 ; ▁ 4 0 ▁Christians ▁and ▁ 2 , 5 2 0 ▁Muslim s , ▁with ▁ 1 4 , 7 3 5 ▁d un ams ▁of ▁land , ▁according ▁to ▁an ▁official ▁land ▁and ▁population ▁survey . ▁Of ▁this , ▁ 3 2 7 ▁d un ams ▁were ▁for ▁cit rus ▁and ▁ban anas , ▁ 4 7 2 ▁plant ations ▁and ▁ir rig able ▁land , ▁ 1 4 , 4 3 8 ▁used ▁for ▁c ere als , ▁while ▁ 3 9 ▁d un ams ▁were ▁built - up ▁land . ▁In ▁the ▁lead - up ▁to ▁the ▁ 1 9 4 8 ▁Arab - Is ra eli ▁War , ▁residents ▁of ▁De ir ▁al - Bal ah ▁participated ▁in ▁a ▁local ▁attack ▁against ▁the ▁nearby ▁k ib but z ▁of ▁K far ▁Dar om , ▁despite ▁being ▁disc ou rag ed ▁by ▁Egypt ian ▁Army ▁officers , ▁but ▁they ▁were ▁rep elled ▁and ▁suffered ▁cas ual ties . ▁During ▁the ▁war , ▁Egypt ▁captured ▁the ▁town ▁along ▁with ▁other ▁towns ▁in ▁an ▁area ▁that ▁became ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Gaz a ▁St rip . ▁The ▁Egypt ians ▁later ▁established ▁a ▁sh aria ▁court ▁system ▁that ▁held ▁juris diction ▁over ▁personal ▁affairs . ▁Egypt ian ▁rule ▁introduced ▁relative ▁prosper ity ▁to ▁De ir ▁al - Bal ah . ▁The ▁town ▁witness ed ▁a ▁bo oming ▁cit rus ▁industry ▁made ▁possible ▁by ▁the