Khaybar is an ancient fort that belonged to the Jewish people in Khaybar oasis in the north of Medina. The arrival of Jewish tribes in the Hejaz region began after the Jewish-Roman Wars between 66 and 135 AD. They introduced agriculture which made them a dominant community in the region. It is uncertain when the Jews first settled in the mountain; however, they inhabited the fortress town until the rise of Islam during the 7th century. Then, the Muslim forces took over the site in the Battle of Khaybar led by Muhammad in 629 AD.
Fought in 629 AD, Khaybar Fort was the setting of one of the first battles in the history of Islam.
According to Islamic sources, the casus belli of the Muslims was that the Jews breached the Charter of Medina, and then fortified the mountain they lived. Accusing the Khaybar Jews of secretly uniting with the other Jewish tribes to attack Medina, Muslim forces took action to capture the oasis. On the other hand, a Scottish historian William M. Watt states that the Jewish people worked with the neighboring tribes to protect themselves because of the earlier Muslim attacks. Capturing the oasis, the Muslims allowed the Jewish people to keep residing in the fort on condition that they would give half of their products to Muslims.
