[5] Kawkaba was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with the rest of Palestine, and by 1596 tax record it was known as Kawkab, with a population of 16 Muslim households; an estimated 88 persons.

The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, sesame, fruit trees and vineyards; a total of 2,640 akçe.

[6] During the 17th and 18th centuries, the area of Kawkaba experienced a significant process of settlement decline due to nomadic pressures on local communities.

In the interior of a oualy dedicated to Sheikh Mohammed he observed mutilated fluted white marble column, next to a Corinthian capital.

Its houses were made of adobe and cement, and its shops were located at the village center, on the western side of the road.

The fall of the village was preceded by the events at nearby Burayr; where the Haganah Oded Brigade apparently executed a large number of military age Palestinians.

[17] The village was on the front line between the Israeli and Egyptian armies through the summer of 1948 and appears to have changed hands several times.