| abstract | - Deir Rafat (Arabic: دير رفات, Hebrew: דיר ראפאת) is a Christian monastery and former Palestinian village in central Israel, 26 kilometers west of Jerusalem. Located to the north-west of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In a 1931 British census, there were 218 Arabs living in Deir Rafat, rising to 430 in Sami Hadawi's 1945 land and population survey. Most of its inhabitants fled the village after its capture by the Har'el Brigade in Operation Dani during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The village was completely destroyed, except for the monastery. In 2006 it had a population of 81. Palestinian refugees from Deir Rafat counted 3,063 in 1998. The monastery was established in 1927 by the Latin partriach Luigi Berlasino.
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