al-Masmiyya al-Saghira

The village, located in the southern coastal plain and bordered on the north by Wadi al-Zurayqa, stretched along the wadi in a northwest-southeast direction. Al-Masmiyya al-Saghira was linked by a short road to a junction of highways that led to al-Majdal (to the southwest), Ramla (to the northeast), and the Jerusalem–Jaffa highway. It was referred to with the adjectival al-Saghira ('minor') so that it could be distinguished from its twin village al-Masmiyya al-Kabira ('major'). It was established in the second half of the nineteenth century by the hamula (clan) of al-Hurani, who had lived in al-Masmiyya al-Kabira and who had had to leave it because of feuds with other residents. Thus, the village was also known as Masmiyyat al-Hurani. All of the villagers were Muslim, and they sent their children to school in al-Masmiyya al-Kabira. Seven small shops in the village provided their basic supplies. They drew water for their domestic needs from two sources: private wells that collected rainwater, and an artesian well that was located under an ancient Christ's-thorn tree and belonged to the entire village.

Agriculture was the mainstay of the village economy, grain being the dominant crop. In 1944/45, 147 dunums were devoted to citrus and bananas and 6,126 dunums were allocated to cereals; 7 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. The villagers relied on rainfall for watering their crops, except for the citrus orchards, which they irrigated from artesian wells. In addition to cultivating crops, the villagers raised animals and poultry; the number of animals, which included sheep, goats, cows, camels, and mules, was estimated at about 4,000. The villagers also participated in the weekly Thursday market that was held in the village of al-Faluja, selling their produce in the towns and cities of al-Majdal, Gaza, and Jaffa.