The village fell shortly after the capture of Safad, the district capital, on 10 May 1948. The residents fled out of fear of an impending Jewish attack. Some villagers recalled that on 1 May, after the attack on 'Ayn al-Zaytun, the old men women, and children of al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta were evacuated to the area of 'Ayn al-Wuhush, just south of the village. Some villagers tried to return to retrieve their belongings, and a few of them were killed by mines planted by the Haganah. The site has been engulfed by the southern neighborhoods of the now wholly Jewish town of Safad that were built after 1948. The entire topography of the place has been altered, as Safad's expansion has taken over the site. The cemetery is visible, though dilapidated.