Editing Kawkaba (section)

===British Mandate era===
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], conducted by the  [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate]] authorities,  ''Kukaba'' had a population of 439, all [[Muslim]]s,<ref>Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n10/mode/1up   8]</ref> increasing in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]]  to 522, still all Muslims, in  121 houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 4].</ref>

[[File:Beit Tima 1931.jpg|thumb|Kawkaba 1931 1:20,000]]
[[File:Ashkelon 1945.jpg|thumb|Kawkaba 1945 1:20,000]]

Kawkaba shared an elementary school with the villages of [[Bayt Tima]] and [[Hulayqat]]. Its houses were made of [[adobe]] and cement, and its shops were located at the village center, on the western side of the road. On its eastern site were two water sources: a spring and a 70-meter deep well. The villagers  engaged in [[rainfed agriculture]], cultivating grain and winter and summer vegetables. Towards the end of the British Mandate period they also cultivated fruits, such as figs and grapes, on all their land expect to the west.<ref name=Khalidi122/>

In  the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]] the population of  ''Kaukaba''  was 680 Muslims,<ref name=DoS1945p31/> while  the total land area was 8,542 [[dunam]]s, according to an official land and population survey.<ref name=Hadawi46/> Of this, a total of  166 dunams  were used  for plantations and irrigable land,  8,166  for cereals,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-087.jpg 87]</ref> while 40 dunams were built-up areas.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in  Hadawi,  1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-137.jpg 137]</ref>