عربي  

History

St. Gilles was founded by the French Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. He built a castle in the village to protect the passage of passing caravans in the time of the crusades. According to the Arabic language, St. Gilles was later transformed into its Arabicized form, Sinjel.

The village, along with most of Palestine, was conquered by the Ayyubids under Saladin in 1187 after the decisive defeat of the Crusader states at the Battle of Hattin. Palestine came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During World War I, British and Arab forces fought together to defeat Ottoman forces in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. Despite British assurances for Arab independence, Palestine became a British Mandate as assigned by the League of Nations in 1922.

Arab-Israeli War exploded tensions between Arabs and Jews in 1948. After Israel declared its independence as a Jewish state, Transjordan, one of the Arab countries participating in the war, occupied all of the present-day West Bank and East Jerusalem.

When the Six-Day War ended, Israeli forces occupied several Arab territories, including the West Bank and thus, Sinjel. Three Israeli settlements were built around the village during the 1970s and 1980s: Eli, Shilo and Ma´ale Levona. These illegal settlements are taking territories from Sinjel.

First Intifada in Sinjel (1988)

The Village is still under Israeli military occupation since 1967.

Historical Sites

The historical sites in the village include: the old well of Prophet Joseph (Joseph's jealous brothers dropped him in a well and left him there) and a holy memorial site for the Prophet Jacob.

It also contains a shrine for Abu Ouf, from the time of the Caliph Omar Ibn al Khattab.

Old Sinjel

Unfortunately, thousands of archaeological objects were looted and sold to the Israeli occupation forces illegally.