This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.Al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya (Arabic: السوافير الشمالية) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict, located 33 kilometers (21 mi) northeast of Gaza situated along the southern coastal plain of Palestine 50 meters (160 ft) above sea level.

[9] The village was possibly located at the site of the biblical Shafir, mentioned by Eusibius as a "beautiful town" between Ascalon and Bayt Jibrin.

[10] Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with the rest of Palestine, Al-Sawafir al-Shamaliya appears in the 1596 tax records as Sawafir al-Halil.

[14][15] In 1863, French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, which he estimated had five hundred inhabitants.

[5] In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) found that al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya had several small gardens and wells.

[9] In early May, 1948, the inhabitants of the three Al-Sawafir villages were ordered not to flee, by the Al-Majdal National Committee.

[21] At the near end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egyptian and Sudanese forces planned to recapture al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya, but were prevented from doing so at an early stage.