Odala

Odala (اودلة) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 1,566 inhabitants in 2017.

Location
Odala is located 7.6 km south of Nablus. It is bordered by Huwara to the west, Beita to the south and east, and ‘Awarta to the east and north.

History
Shards from Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk eras have been found here.

Ottoman era
Shards from the early Ottoman  era have been found here. In 1596 the village appeared in Ottoman   tax registers under the name of ‘’Udala’’, and  as being in the nahiya of Jabal Qubal in the liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 18 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops,  olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a press for olive oil or syrup; a total of 3,000 akçe. One quarter of the revenue went to a Waqf.

In 1838, Haudela  was noted as a village  in the District of El-Beitawy, east of Nablus.

In 1870 Victor Guérin noted it as a village surrounded by olive and fig trees.

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Audelah as a small hamlet, on the low hills east of the Mukhnah plain.

British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Audala had a population of 64 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 73 Muslim, in 17  houses.

In the 1945 statistics Odala  together with Awarta had a population of 1,470, all Muslims,  with 16,106   dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 30 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 9,406 used for cereals, while 130 dunams were built-up land.

Jordanian era
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Odala came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 179 inhabitants.

1967-present
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Odala  has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 89% of the village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 11% is defined as Area C.

In May, 2021, the Israeli army shot and killed 16 year old Said Yousef Mohammad Odeh from Odala. There were "confrontations" at the entrance at Odala at the time, but his family stated that the  10-grader was not involved, while the Israeli army stated that he was. The Defence for Children International - Palestine, stated: "Israeli forces reportedly confronted Palestinian youth at the village entrance prior to the shooting. Saeed was not involved in the confrontations at the time he was shot, according to information collected by our team.

"Israeli forces deployed in a nearby olive grove fired live ammunition at Saeed as he approached the village entrance. He sustained at least two gunshot wounds: in the back near his right shoulder and pelvis. Both bullets exited from the front." His cousin was shot at the same time, but survived.