Born in 1918 in Salfit, Ismael Abdullah Afaneh is considered one of the landowners in the city, where he worked in agriculture. He is one of the sons of Abdullah Afaneh and the brother of Omar Afaneh, the second mayor of Salfit. He participated in the Palestine Great Rebellion 1936-1939 and died in 2004.

The Ismael Afaneh Collection contains 70 documents, including several deeds for the sale and purchase of lands in Salfit, farming agreements, agreements for the division and distribution of shares and estates that Ismael Afaneh and his brothers inherited from their father or their other heirs, personal documents such as birth certificates and marriage contracts, receipts and tax receipts, some identification and official papers such as some letters from the Salfit municipality, contracting agreements, and the sketch plans of two land plots owned by Afaneh.