Izraa' was quite an important city in the Roman period, and later became a center of Christian importance. In 1182 it was sacked by James Baldwin IV of Jerusalem who mistakenly thought that they would want to join him. 

The Christian community is still dense here and they continue to worship and pray at their two original churches. Church of St George, which is built on the site of a pagan temple, is a Greek Orthodox Church dating back to 512 AD. Church of St Elias is a Greek Catholic Church, which was heavily ruined but restored recently. It dates back to 542 A