Before Palmach and Haganah troops occupied the village during Operation Nachshon on April 11, 1948, approximately 300 Palestinian Arabs lived there.

[8][9] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Bayt Naqquba as a village built on a slope with a spring to the south.

[18] Like the people of Abu Ghosh, the inhabitants of Bayt Naqquba were known for their friendly relations with their Jewish neighbors in Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim.

[19] Benny Morris writes: "It is possible that the inhabitants of Beit Naqquba had received both an order to evacuate from Arab military commanders in Ein Karim and "strong advice" to the same effect from Lisser and Navon.

[20] Between 1948 and 1964 the inhabitants of Bayt Naqquba lived at Sataf, "under trees, because the Arabs had not allowed them to come over their lines, out of distrust and revenge".