According to Palmer, the name Deir el ’Asl means "the monastery of honey".[2]
History
Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[3]
Ottoman era
In 1838, a Deir el-'Asl was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil.[4][5]
In 1863 Victor Guérin noted "considerable ruins" at Khirbet Deir el-A'sal. There were ruined houses at each step he walked, and he found cisterns, silos and underground stores, dug into the rock, "probably dating back to ancient times".[6]
In March 2013, Yusef a-Shawamreh, a 14-year-old from the village, who went with two others through the Israeli West Bank barrier near the village to pick Akub on part of his family's land west of the barrier, was shot to death by Israeli soldiers, stationed to prevent unauthorized passage through the barrier. According to an IDF investigation, a-Shawamreh and his partners made a hole in the fence before passing. After passing through the fence the soldiers called them to stop. When they tried to escape, the soldiers shot towards a-Shawamreh's leg but mistakenly hit his waist, causing his death. Therefore, the soldiers were not prosecuted. B'Tselem criticized this decision, claiming that a-Shawamreh was shot without warning, and that, in any event, the decision to put soldiers in ambush near the fence and shoot those who pass was illegal.[10][11][12][13]
^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117
^Guérin, 1869, pp. 346-347: "...nous avons a notre droite des ruines considérables, dont le nom est Khirbet Deir el-A'sal. Elle sont disséminées sur les flancs et sur plateau d'une petite montagne rocheuse. En les explorant, je heurte a chaque pas, au milieu de broussailles plus on moins épaisses, des vestiges d'habitations détruites. Des citernes, des silos et des magasins souterrains, creusés dans le roc, remontent vraisemblablement à une haute antiquité."
