Tubas (, Tûbâs) is a city in the northeast of the West Bank, Palestine, and capital of the Tubas Governorate. A city of over 30,000 inhabitants, It is the namesake of the titular woman of Thebez. Besides the Biblical story, nothing is known about Thebez before or after the revolt.
Roman and Byzantine periods
Archaeological remains such as cemeteries and olive presses indicate that Tubas was inhabited during the Roman period.
Eusebius mentioned Thebez being 13 Roman miles east of Neapolis (Nablus), which led to it being identified with Tubas, which is 16 km (10 mi.) east of Neapolis Nablus.
Late 19th century
In the late 19th century, with Palestine still being Ottoman rule, groups of Arabs belonging to the Daraghmeh clan—mostly shepherds and farmers who lived in the Jordan Valley—migrated northward to the site because of its fertile ground, proximity to several springs, and its high elevation compared to the Jordan Valley and Wadi al-Far'a plain; The Daraghmeh clan had lived in the Jordan Valley since the 15th century and in addition to Tubas, they founded or inhabited the nearby hamlets of Kardala, al-Farisiya, Khirbet al-Malih, Kishda, Yarza, and Ras al-Far'a. Soon after being established in Tubas, Arabs from Najd, Syria, Transjordan, Hebron and nearby Nablus came to settle in the area.
Tubas was one of the largest villages in the District of Nablus. Most of the inhabitants resided in mud-built houses or tents in order to work on their distant lands in the Jordan Valley and to graze their sheep and goat flocks. According to traveler Herbert Rix, compared to other towns of its size in Samaria, Tubas was "well-to-do" and had abundant amounts of timber, which was harvested for firewood. In 1882 a boys' school was established in the town.
The PEF noted that the Samaritans believed that the tomb of Asher, known locally as Nabi Tota ("the good prophet"), was located in Tubas. The tomb served as a shrine in local Muslim tradition.
British Mandate
In 1917, the British captured Palestine from the Ottomans. After rule under a military government, it was reorganized in 1922–23 Tubas was incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine.
In the 1922 census of Palestine, Tubas had a population of 3,449 (3,441 Muslims and 7 Orthodox Christians). In the 1931 census, Tubas, (including Kashda and Jabagia) had 773 occupied houses and a population of 4,097 (4,068 Muslims and 29 Christians).
In Sami Hadawi's 1945 statistics, a land and population survey, Tubas and nearby Bardala had a combined population of 5,530 (5,470 Muslims and 60 Christians), with 313,123 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 18,498 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 98,518 dunams for cereals, while 204 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
In 1947, the United Nations drew up a partition plan to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states; Tubas and the surrounding villages and hamlets were to be included in the Arab state. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Fawzi al-Qawuqji led 750 Arab Liberation Army (ALA) soldiers to Tubas from Transjordan and set up base there; Tubas would serve as the ALA's headquarters in central Palestine throughout the war.
Jordanian annexation
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Tubas became a part of Jordan.
In 1955 the first girls' school was opened. while in 1964, Tubas alone had a population of 5,880.
Post-1967
thumb|2018 [[United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs|United Nations map of the area, showing the Israeli occupation arrangements.]]
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Tubas has been under Israeli occupation.
Tubas was transferred to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) control in 1995 under the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. During the Jordanian and Israeli periods, the city was under the administration of the Nablus Governorate, but in 1996, the PNA declared Tubas and the immediate area to be an electoral district, and later, an independent administrative area—the Tubas Governorate.
Tubas has not seen as much violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as nearby Nablus and Jenin, but a number of incidents occurred during the Second Intifada, which began in 2000. In April 2002, the Israeli forces (IDF) killed six active Hamas members in the town, including Ashraf Tamza Daraghmeh—the chief Hamas commander in Tubas and the surrounding area. On August 31, 2002, an Israeli Apache helicopter fired four Hellfire missiles at a civilian car suspected of carrying a local al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander and a nearby home. The strike instead killed five civilians, including two children, two teenagers and a 29-year-old Fatah activist accused of being a member of the al-Aqsa Brigades. The Israeli Defense Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, issued a statement expressing "regret" over "harming" civilians in Tubas. Ben-Eliezer described the raid in Tubas as a "mistake", and promised that the army would investigate the incident. On August 21, 2009, a clash between the Sawafta clan and another city clan left a member of the former dead and 38 others injured. Five homes were also burnt and Palestinian Security Forces arrested five people in connection to the death.
On 27 August 2024, the IDF invaded Tubas along with Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm as part of their "Summer Camp" offensive.
On November 26, 2025, Israel deployed heavy reinforcements to the northern Jordan Valley and sealed off large parts of the Tubas Governorate. Residents reported that Israeli Apache helicopters were firing over empty fields around Tubas. The Israeli military stated that the blockade was intended to combat resistance fighters. Four nearby towns, including Tamun and Aqaba, were subjected to house-to-house Israeli military patrols. Tubas Governor Ahmed al-Assad denied the Israeli military’s claim, stating, “The Israeli attack has nothing to do with security; it has everything to do with geography.”
Geography
thumb|right|250px|The location of Tubas (marked in red) within the [[West Bank ]]
Tubas is located in the northern West Bank with an elevation of above sea level, whereas most of the Tubas Governorate is located within the Jordan Valley to the south.
Tubas is located to the northeast of Nablus, and west of the Jordan Valley. Nearby localities include the town of Aqqaba to the north, Tayasir and Aqabah villages to the northeast, Ras al-Far'a to the southwest, the Palestinian refugee camp of Far'a to the south and the al-Bikai'a village cluster to the southeast. while 260 immigrated there and in 1981 its population was 5,300.
In the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics' (PCBS) first official census in 1997, Tubas had a population of 11,760 inhabitants. The gender make-up was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. Tubas has an overwhelmingly young population with 52.7% of the city's residents below the age of 20. People between the ages of 20 and 34 constitute 24.7%, 17.7% between the ages of 35 and 64, while people above the age of 64 constituted 4.9% of the population. The census also revealed that refugees made up 6.1% of the total residents.
In the 2007 census by the PCBS, Tubas had a population of 16,154, increasing around 33% from 1997. The city represents roughly a third (33.4%) of the Tubas Governorate's total population. The city's modern-era founders, the Daraghmeh clan, constitute 70% of Tubas' inhabitants. The Sawafta family make up 25%, the Husheh make up 3% and the Fuquha represent the remaining 2%.
The inhabitants of Tubas are predominantly Muslims, The Christian community worships at the Holy Trinity Church in the city and is serviced by a priest from nearby Zababdeh.
According to the 2017 census by the PCBS, the population of Tubas was 21,431.
Currently, agriculture constitutes 60% of Tubas' economic activity, public services comprise 17%, trade is 10%, Israeli labor is 8%, construction and industry make-up the remaining 5%. In the city, there are 240 shops and stores, 70 service institutions and one big ready mix concrete factory 30 small ones.
Government
Tubas serves as the muhfaza ("capital" or "seat") of the Tubas Governorate. Since 1995, Tubas has been located in Area A, giving the PNA full control over its security, administration and civilian affairs.
Education
In 2004–05, Tubas had twelve schools; four for males, three for females and five co-educational. There were 4,924 students and 191 teachers. In addition, six kindergartens are located in the city, and have a total of 620 pupils. In 1997, the literacy rate was 86%; females comprised 78.3% of the illiterate population. Of the literate population, 25.7% completed elementary education, 23.3% completed preparatory education and 22.1% completed secondary or higher education.
Local infrastructure
Tubas contains six mosques. The main mosques are the Abd ar-Rahan Mosque, the al-Tawled Mosque, Umar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, and Shaheed Mosque.
Since Tubas is the capital and largest city in the Tubas Governorate, it acts as the main provider of services to the towns and villages of the governorate. All Palestinian National Authority offices that serve the governorate are located in the city. There are 21 government institutions in Tubas, including a post office, the Palestinian Ministry of Labor office, the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture office, the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs office, the fire department and a police station.
Health care
The city contains five health centers run by various organizations including the Palestinian Red Crescent.