Wadi Ara (village)

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Wadi Ara
Arabic	وادي عارة
District	Haifa
Population	230 (1945)
Jurisdiction	9,800 dunams (9.8 km²)
Date of depopulation	February 27, 1948-July 1949
Cause(s) of depopulation
Current localities	Ein Iron

Wadi Ara (Arabic: وادي عارة‎) is a former Palestinian village located 38.5km south of the Israeli city of Haifa. It is named after the nearby stream that is known in Arabic as Wadi 'Ara. The village was particularly small with a population of 230 and a land area of approximately 9,800 dunums.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the village was successfully defended by Arab Liberation Army volunteers and Iraqi forces patrolling the nearby city of Tulkarm. All of the land the Iraqi Army controlled in Palestine including Wadi Ara was handed over to Jordan. Jordan under the command of King Abdullah I then ceded the entire Wadi Ara region to Israel on May 3, 1949, in exchange for land near Hebron.

The Jewish towns of Ein Iron and Ma'anit are built on Wadi Ara's former jurisdiction.

Most non-Jewish residents were removed on February 27, 1948 prior to the official founding of the modern state of Israel, those remaining were removed by the end of July 1949.