Nasir ad-Dīn (Arabic: نصر الدين) was a small Palestinian Arab village 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) southwest of Tiberias, on the crest of a slope that overlooks the Sea of Galilee. The village had several springs to the east, south, and southeast. In the 1931 British census 179 people lived there, decreasing to 90 in a 1945 census. Nasir ad-Din and nearby al-Manara were in the same jurisdiction with 4,185 dunams of land, most of which was allocated to cereals.

In the 1948 Palestine war, the village was destroyed and its residents expelled as part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion.

Archeological excavations has shown that the place was inhabited in the Hellenistic era, and that a major settlement was here during the Roman era, in 2nd to 4th century CE.

Nasir ad-Din is named after a shrine dedicated to Nasir ad-Din, an Ayyubid general who died while fighting the Crusaders and buried to the north of the village, according to local legend. A kilometer to the west is the shrine for another Muslim soldier who died fighting the Crusaders, named Sheikh al-Qaddumi.

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Nasir al Din had a population of 109, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 179, still all Muslims, in 35 houses.

During the British Mandate in Palestine, most of Nasir ad-Din's houses were scattered north–south, with no particular village plan. The inhabitants worked in agriculture and animal breeding.

In the 1944/1945 statistics the population consisted of 90 Muslims, and together with the people of Al-Manara they had 4,185 dunams of land. Of this, 4,172 dunams of land were used for cereals, while 13 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) area.

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Precipitating events Background Mandatory Palestine 1947 partition plan Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine 1948 Palestine war Civil war in Palestine Plan Dalet Deir Yassin massacre Battle of Haifa Israeli Declaration of Independence Arab–Israeli War Timeline Expulsion from Lydda and Ramle Transfer Committee
1948 expulsion and flight Palestinian refugees Camps Palestinian return to Israel Right of return Present absentee UN Resolution 194 UNRWA Hebraization of Palestinian place names Paraguay plan
Discourse Causes New Historians Nakba denial Nakba Law
Notable writers Aref al-Aref Yoav Gelber Efraim Karsh Rashid Khalidi Walid Khalidi Nur Masalha Benny Morris Ilan Pappé Edward Said Tom Segev Avraham Sela Avi Shlaim Constantin Zureiq
Symbols and memory Palestinian key Handala Nakba Day Land Day Great March of Return March of Return (Israel)
Ongoing Ongoing Nakba Palestinian genocide accusation Gaza genocide
Lists List of depopulated towns and villages Estimates of the number of Palestinians who fled
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On April 12, 1948, a company from the 12th battalion of Israel's Golani Brigade captured Nasir ad-Din to cut off Tiberias from major Arab centers to the west (Nazareth and Lubya). The skirmish lasted four hours because the Haganah encountered unexpected local resistance. Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad writes that 12-20 civilians were "massacred by machine guns." Most of the inhabitants fled to Tiberias or Lubya — British troops escorted villagers to Lubya. The Haganah reported 22 Arabs were killed, six wounded, and three captured. The civilian deaths included seven men, at least one woman, and a number of children. Two Haganah troops were also wounded.

The capture and killing in Nasir ad-Din was a decisive factor for the flight of Arabs from Tiberias, and was a major demoralizing factor for Arab forces. Historian Benny Morris reports that some Palestinians at the time described the attack as "a second Deir Yassin", in reference to the highly publicized Deir Yassin massacre which had occurred days prior. All the houses were destroyed, and residents that remained were expelled on April 23.

• Welcome to Nasir-al-Din
• Nasir al-Din, Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Nasir al-Din, from Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre