View source for 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine

{{Short description|First phase of the 1947–1949 Palestine war}}
{{about|the initial civil war phase of the 1948 Palestine war|the subsequent international phase|1948 Arab–Israeli War|the entire conflict|1948 Palestine war}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2010}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine
| partof            = the [[intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine]], the [[1948 Palestine War]] and the [[decolonisation of Asia]]
| date              = 30 November 1947 – 14 May 1948<br>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=11|day1=30|year1=1947|month2=05|day2=14|year2=1948}})
| place             = [[Mandatory Palestine]]
| image             = PikiWiki Israel 20804 The Palmach.jpg
| caption           = Palestinian fighters in front of a burning [[Haganah]] armoured supply truck near the city of [[Jerusalem]] (March 1948)
| result            = [[Jewish National Council]] victory
* Issuance of the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]]
* Intervention by neighbouring Arab states, beginning the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]]
| combatant1        = '''[[Jewish National Council]]'''
*[[File:Haganah Symbol.svg|16px]] [[Haganah]]
**[[Palmach]]
*[[File:Irgun.svg|17px]] [[Irgun]]
*[[File:Logo of the Lehi movement.svg|15px|link=]] [[Lehi (militant group)|Lehi]]
*[[Mahal (Israel)|Foreign volunteers]]
*Allied [[Bedouin]] tribes
| combatant2        = '''[[Arab Higher Committee]]'''
*[[Army of the Holy War]]
*[[File:Arab Liberation Army (bw).svg|16px]] [[Arab Liberation Army]]
{{JOR}}
*[[File:ArabLegn.gif|17px]] [[Arab Legion]]
| combatant3        = '''{{UK}}'''
*{{flag|Mandatory Palestine}}
| commander1        = [[David Ben-Gurion]]<br>[[Yaakov Dori]]<br>[[Yigael Yadin]]<br>[[Yigal Allon]]<br>[[Menachem Begin]]
| commander2        = [[Fawzi al-Qawuqji]]<br>[[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]]{{KIA}}
| commander3        = {{flagicon|Mandatory Palestine}} [[Gordon MacMillan]]
| strength1         = 15,000 <small>(start)</small><ref>T.G Fraser, 'The Arab Israeli Conflict', (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), pp.40, 41.</ref><br/>35,000 <small>(end)</small>
| strength2         = Arabs: A few thousand<br>British deserters: ~100–200
| strength3         = 70,000
| casualties1       = '''9 April''':<br/>895 killed<ref name = "gelber85">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 85</ref>
| casualties2       = '''9 April''':<br/>991 killed<ref name = "gelber85"/>
| casualties3       = '''9 April''':<br/>123 killed<br/>300 wounded<ref>[[#gelber2004|Yoav Gelber (2004)]] p. 104</ref>
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine}}{{Campaignbox 1948 Palestine war}}{{Campaignbox Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine}}
| image_size        = 325px
}}
The '''1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine''' was the first phase of the [[1947–1949 Palestine war]]. It broke out after the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] of the [[United Nations]] adopted a resolution on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption of the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|Partition Plan for Palestine]].<ref>[http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/038/88/IMG/NR003888.pdf?OpenElement Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine A/RES/181(II)(A+B) 29 November 1947] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617232624/http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/038/88/IMG/NR003888.pdf?OpenElement |date=17 June 2011 }}</ref>

During the civil war, the [[Yishuv|Jewish]] and [[Arabs|Arab communities]] of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] clashed (the latter supported by the [[Arab Liberation Army]]) while the British, who had the obligation to maintain order,<ref name="Urofsky1982">{{cite book|author=Melvin I. Urofsky|title=A voice that spoke for justice: the life and times of Stephen S. Wise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-49QC6R8bnsC&pg=PA282|date=January 1982|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-87395-538-6|page=282}}</ref><ref name="LevermoreMyers1921">{{cite book|author1=Charles Herbert Levermore|author2=Denys Peter Myers|title=Yearbook of the League of Nations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwOtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA63|year=1921|publisher=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|page=63}}</ref> organized their withdrawal and intervened only on an occasional basis.

At the end of the civil war phase of the war, from April 1948 to mid-May, [[Zionism|Zionist]] forces embarked on an offensive ([[Plan Dalet]]) that involved conquering cities and territories in Palestine allocated to a future Jewish state, as well as those allocated to the [[Corpus separatum (Jerusalem)|corpus separatum of Jerusalem]] and a future Arab state according to the [[1947 Partition plan for Palestine]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Khalidi |first=Walid |date=1988-10-01 |title=Plan Dalet: Master Plan for the Conquest of Palestine |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2537591 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=4–19 |doi=10.2307/2537591 |issn=0377-919X |jstor=2537591}}</ref> This offensive greatly accelerated the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight]], which was [[Causes of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|effected by various violent means]], including [[List of killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine war|a number of massacres]] such as the widely publicized [[Deir Yassin massacre]].<ref name="750k">{{harvnb|Abu-Laban|Bakan|2022|p=511|ps=, "over 80 per cent"}}; {{harvnb|Pappe|2022|p=128|ps=, "Three-quarters of a million Palestinians ... almost 90 per cent"}}; {{harvnb|Khalidi|2020|p=60|ps=, "Some 80 percent ... At least 720,000 ..."}}; {{harvnb|Slater|2020|ps=, pp. 81 ("about 750,000"), 83 ("over 80 percent"), and 350 ("It is no longer a matter of serious dispute that in the 1947–48 period—beginning well before the Arab invasion in May 1948—some 700,000 to 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from or fled their villages and homes in Israel in fear of their lives—an entirely justifiable fear, in light of massacres carried out by Zionist forces.")}}; {{harvnb|Shenhav|2019|p=49|ps=, "750,000"}}; {{harvnb|Bashir|Goldberg|2018|p=7|ps=, "some 750,000"}}; {{harvnb|Bishara|2017|ps=, pp. 138 ("expelled close to 750,000") and 148 n. 21 ("number of the refugees displaced ranged between 700,000 and 900,000"}}; {{harvnb|Bäuml|2017|p=105|ps=, "approximately 750,000"}}; {{harvnb|Cohen|2017|p=87|ps=, "approximately 700,000 ... between half a million and a million"}}; {{harvnb|Manna|2013|ps=, pp. 93 ("approximately 750,000") and 99 n. 12 ("Recently, both Palestinian and Israeli scholars seem to agree on this estimate of 700,000–750,000 refugees.")}}; {{harvnb|Masalha|2012|pp=2|ps=, "about 90 per cent ... 750,000 refugees"}}; {{harvnb|Wolfe|2012|p=133|ps=, "some three quarters of a million"}}; {{harvnb|Davis|2011|ps=, pp. 7 ("more than 750,000") and 237 n. 21 ("Most scholars generally agree with the UN number, which it was somewhere in the vicinity of 750,000")}}; {{harvnb|Lentin|2010|ps=, pp. 6 ("at least 80 per cent") and 7 ("more than 700,000")}}; {{harvnb|Ghanim|2009|p=25|ps=, "Around 750,000-900,000"}}; {{harvnb|Kimmerling|2008|p=280|ps=, "700,000 to 900,000"}}; {{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=407|ps=, "some seven hundred thousand"}}; {{harvnb|Sa'di|2007|pp=297|ps=, "at least 780,000 ... more than 80 percent"}}</ref><ref name="500 villages">{{harvnb|Abu-Laban|Bakan|2022|p=511}}; {{harvnb|Manna|2022|p=17}}; {{harvnb|Pappe|2022|ps=, pp. 121 and 128 ("Half of the villages had been destroyed, flattened by Israeli bulldozers ...")}}; {{harvnb|Khalidi|2020|p=73|ps=, "conquest and depopulation ... of scores of Arab cities, towns, and villages"}}; {{harvnb|Shenhav|2019|p=49|ps=, "abolition of hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages"}}; {{harvnb|Bashir|Goldberg|2018|p=1|ps=, "destruction of hundreds of villages and urban neighborhoods ... evacuation of villages"}}; {{harvnb|Cohen|2017|p=80}}; {{harvnb|Pappe|2017|p=66|ps=, "In a matter of seven months, 531 villages were destroyed and eleven urban neighborhoods emptied."}} {{harvnb|Rouhana|Sabbagh-Khoury|2017|p=400|ps=, "Palestinian cities whose inhabitants were almost completely forced out ... hundreds of evacuated and destroyed towns"}}; {{harvnb|Rashed|Short|Docker|2014|ps=, p. 10 (quoting [[Mark Levene]]) "With at least 5,000 men, women, and children slaughtered in the massacres, 531 villages and 11 major towns destroyed and up to 800,000 folk uprooted, mostly into exile, the point of Pappe's effort can only be affirmed."}}; {{harvnb|Manna|2013|p=91}}; {{harvnb|Khoury|2012|p=259}}; {{harvnb|Masalha|2012|ps=, pp. 3 ("over 500 villages and towns and a whole country and its people disappeared from international maps and dictionaries ... [[Walid Khalidi]] ... listed 418 depopulated and destroyed villages. However, [[Salman Abu-Sitta]]'s figure of 531 includes 77 destroyed Bedouin villages in the south"), 7 ("coastal cities of Palestine — Jaffa, Haifa and Acre — were largely depopulated"), 74 ("hundreds of villages had been completely depopulated and their houses blown up or bulldozed"), 90-91 ("Of the 418 depopulated villages documented by Khalidi, 293 (70 per cent) were totally destroyed and 90 (22 per cent) were largely destroyed."), 107 ("nearly 500 destroyed and depopulated villages"), and 115 ("towns and villages of southern Palestine, including the cities of Beer Sheba and al-Majdal, were completely depopulated")}}; {{harvnb|Wolfe|2012|p=161 n.1|ps=, "According to official Israeli estimates, over 85% of Palestinian villages were ‘abandoned’ in the Nakba, 218 villages being listed as destroyed."}}; {{harvnb|Davis|2011|ps=, pp. 7 ("destruction of more than four hundred villages ... depopulation of Palestinians from cities"), 9 ("418 villages that were emptied"), and 237 n. 20 ("The total number of depopulated villages, hamlets, settlements, and towns is estimated to be between 290 and 472. The most comprehensive study and the clearest on its methods for including and eliminating population settlements is the massive ''[[All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|All That Remains]]'' (W. Khalidi 1992), which estimates the number of villages to be 418. According to this study, Israeli topographical maps chart 290 villages, Benny Morris's 1987 study lists 369, and the Palestinian encyclopedia published by Hay’at al-Mawsu‘a al-Filastiniyya gives 391 (among other sources on the subject).")}}; {{harvnb|Ghanim|2009|p=25|ps=, "about 531 villages were deliberately destroyed"}}; {{harvnb|Kimmerling|2008|p=280|ps=, "Most of their villages, towns, and neighborhoods were destroyed or repopulated by Jewish residents"}}; {{harvnb|Sa'di|2007|ps=, pp. 293-297 ("[p. 297] destruction of some 420 Palestinian towns and villages")}}</ref>

When the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]]  [[End of the British Mandate for Palestine|ended on 14 May 1948]], and with the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel]], the surrounding Arab states—[[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]], [[Jordan|Transjordan]], [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]], and [[Syrian Republic (1946–63)|Syria]]—invaded what had just ceased to be Mandatory Palestine,<ref name="Benny Morris 2008 p.180">{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=180}} and further</ref> and immediately attacked Israeli forces and several Jewish settlements.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|pp= 236, 237, 247, 253, 254}}</ref> The conflict thus escalated and became the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].

==Background==

Under the control of a British administration since 1920, Palestine found itself the object of a battle between [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] and [[Zionist]] nationalists, groups that opposed both the British mandate and one another.

The Palestinian opposition culminated in the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine]], a deadly civil conflict that saw the deaths of nearly 5,000 Palestinian Arabs and 500 Jews, and resulted in much of the Palestinian political leadership, including [[Amin al-Husseini]], leader of the [[Arab Higher Committee]], being driven into exile. Britain also reduced Jewish immigration in response to the violence, as legislated by the [[1939 White Paper]].

After [[World War II]] and [[The Holocaust]], the [[Zionist movement]] gained attention and sympathy. In Mandatory Palestine, [[British–Zionist conflict|Zionist groups fought against the British administration]]. In the two and a half years from 1945 to June 1947, British law enforcement forces lost 103 dead, and sustained 391 wounded from Jewish militants.<ref>Henry Laurens, ''La Question de Palestine'', volume 2, Fayard, Paris 2002, pp. 571–572.</ref> The Palestinian Arab nationalists reorganized themselves, but their organization remained inferior to that of the Zionists.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

On 15 August 1947, the Haganah{{Explain|date=December 2024}} blew up the house of a Palestinian family near [[Petah Tikva]] killing welve occupants, including a woman and six children.<ref>Walid Khalidi. "Before their Diaspora." IPS 1984; {{ISBN|0-88728-143-5}}. p. 253. Benny Morris, ''The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947–1949'', 2004, p. 343. Morris gives no precise date or number of casualties but describes the house as "suspected of being an Arab terrorist headquarters." He also states that on 20 May 1947 the Palamach blew up a coffee house in Fajja after the murder of two Jews in Petah Tikva.</ref> After November 1947, the dynamiting of houses formed a key component of most Haganah strikes.<ref>Morris 2004 p. 343:9 December 1947, the Givati brigade blew up a house in the village of [[Karatiyya]]; on 11 December a house was blown up in Haifa's Wadi Rishmiya neighbourhood. On 18 December 1947, two houses were destroyed by the Palmach in a raid on [[Al-Khisas|Khisas]] in the Galilee; On 19 December, the house of the mukhtar of [[Qazaza]] was partially demolished to revenge the murder of a Jew; On 26 December, several houses were blown up in [[Silwan]]; on 27 December 3 houses were blown up in [[Yalo|Yalu]]; On 4 January 1948 Etzioni blew up the Christian-owned [[Semiramis Hotel bombing|Semiramis Hotel]] in Jerusalem's [[Katamon]] quarter.</ref>

Diplomacy failed to reconcile the different points of view concerning the future of Palestine. In early November, The Haganah began mobilizing for war, and issued an order that all men in the age range  between 17 and 25 register.<ref>Shay Hazkani, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sAMcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT54 ''Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War,''] [[Stanford University Press]], 2021  {{isbn|978-1-503-62766-6}} chapter 1.By the eve of the declaration of independence on May 1948, 105,000 men had answered the call of which 25,000 had been drafted into active service.</ref> On 18 February 1947, the British announced their withdrawal from the region and on 29 November, the General Assembly of the United Nations voted to recommend the adoption and implementation of the [[1947 UN Partition plan|partition plan]] with the support of the big global powers, though it was opposed by the Arab States.

==Beginning of the civil war (30 November 1947 – 1 April 1948)==

[[File:UN Partition Plan For Palestine 1947.png|thumb|139px|left|The [[1947 UN Partition Plan]] recommended dividing Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.]]

In the aftermath of the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|adoption of Resolution 181(II)]] by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] recommending the adoption and implementation of the Plan of Partition,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |title=A/RES/181(II) of 29 November 1947 |work=domino.un.org |year=1947 |access-date=11 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524094913/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |archive-date=24 May 2012  }}</ref> the manifestations of joy of the Jewish community were counterbalanced by protests by Arabs throughout the country<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,934119,00.html|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120604204421/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,934119,00.html |title=Extracts from Time Magazine of that time|archivedate=4 June 2012}}</ref> and after 1 December, the [[Arab Higher Committee]] enacted a [[general strike]] that lasted three days.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 17</ref>

A "wind of violence"<ref>This expression is taken from [[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 111</ref> took hold of the country, foreboding civil war between the two communities.<ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 65</ref> Murders, reprisals, and counter-reprisals resulted in dozens of victims killed on both sides in the process. The impasse persisted as British forces did not intervene to put a stop to the escalating violence.<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 111</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=76}}</ref><ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.30">[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 30</ref><ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.101">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 101</ref>

The first casualties after the adoption of Resolution 181(II) were passengers on a Jewish bus near [[Kfar Sirkin]] on 30 November, after an eight-man gang from Jaffa [[Fajja bus attacks|ambushed the bus killing five and wounding others]]. Half an hour later they ambushed a second bus, southbound from [[Hadera]], killing two more, and shots were fired at Jewish buses in Jerusalem and Haifa.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=76}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=This Day in Jewish History / Civil War Breaks Out in Palestine|language=en|work=Haaretz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-this-day-civil-war-erupts-in-palestine-1.5337592|access-date=2021-10-24}}</ref> This was stated to be a retaliation for the [[Shubaki family assassination]], the killing of five Palestinian Arabs by [[Lehi (militant group)|Lehi]] near [[Herzliya]], ten days prior to the incident.<ref name="Morris Morris Clancy-Smith Benny 2004 p. 139">{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=R.F.T.I.B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA139 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |last2=Morris |first2=B. |last3=Clancy-Smith |first3=J.A. |last4=Benny |first4=M. |last5=Gershoni |first5=I. |last6=Owen |first6=R. |last7=Tripp |first7=C. |last8=Sayigh |first8=Y. |last9=Tucker |first9=J.E. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |series=Cambridge Middle East Studies |page=139 |quote=Traditionally, Zionist historiography has cited these attacks as the first acts of Palestinian violence against the partition resolution. But it is probable that the attacks were not directly linked to the resolution – and were a product either of a desire to rob Jews... or of a retaliatory cycle that had begun with a British raid on a LHI training exercise (after an Arab had informed the British about the exercise), that resulted in several Jewish dead... The LHI retaliated by executing five members of the beduin Shubaki clan near Herzliya...; and the Arabs retaliated by attacking the buses on 30 Nov....}}</ref><ref name="Radai 2015 p. 237">{{cite book |last=Radai |first=Itamar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-6U0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT237 |title=Palestinians in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1948: A Tale of Two Cities |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-36805-2 |series=Routledge Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict |page=237 |quote=In November they again strove to cool tempers, following an attack on a Jewish bus on its way to Holon, in retaliation against the killing of five young men of the Shubaki family by LEHI gunmen (who were in turn taking revenge because one of the members of the family had informed to the British about LEHI activities). |access-date=2022-04-17}}</ref><ref name="Morris 2009 p. ">{{cite book | last=Morris | first=B. | title=1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-300-15112-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1eVPwAACAAJ | access-date=17 April 2022|page=76|quote=…the majority view in the HIS{{snd}}supported by an anonymous Arab flyer posted almost immediately on walls in Jaffa{{snd}}was that the attackers were driven primarily by a desire to avenge an LHI raid ten days before on a house near Raganana belonging to the Abu Kishk bedouin tribe.}}</ref>

[[Irgun]]{{Explain|date=December 2024}} and [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]]{{Explain|date=December 2024}} (the latter also known as the Stern Gang) followed their strategy of placing bombs in crowded markets and bus-stops.<ref>B. Morris, 2004, ''The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited'', p. 66</ref> On 30 December, in Haifa, members of the [[Irgun]] threw two bombs at a crowd of Arab workers who were queueing in front of a refinery, killing 6 and injuring 42. An angry crowd [[Haifa Oil Refinery massacre|massacred 39 Jewish people]] in revenge, until British soldiers reestablished calm.<ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.30"/><ref>''[[The Palestine Post]]'' of 31 December 1947: [http://www.jpress.org.il/Default/Skins/TAUEn/Client.asp?Skin=TAUEn&enter=true&sPublication=PLS&Publication=PLS&Hs=advanced&AW=1291929116843&AppName=2 Archives of the newspaper]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920055312/http://www.jpress.org.il/Default/Skins/TAUEn/Client.asp?Skin=TAUEn&enter=true&sPublication=PLS&Publication=PLS&Hs=advanced&AW=1291929116843&AppName=2 |date=20 September 2012 }}</ref> In reprisals, soldiers from the [[Palmach]]{{Explain|date=December 2024}} and the [[Carmeli brigade]],{{Explain|date=December 2024}} attacked the villages of [[Balad ash-Sheikh]] and Hawassa. In what became known as the [[Balad al-Shaykh massacre]], between 60 to 70 villagers were killed.{{refn|Golani & Manna 2011, "70 village residents – including men, women and children – were murdered in their homes"}}{{refn|Lockman 1996, "The Jewish attackers killed some sixty men, women, and children and destroyed several houses."}}{{refn|Pappé 2006, "Over sixty Palestinians dead"}}

On December 31, 1947, having recruited a few thousand volunteers, al-Husayni{{Explain|date=December 2024}} organized a blockade of the 100,000 Jewish residents of Jerusalem.<ref name="Larry Collins 1971 p.7">[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], chap. 7, pp. 131–153</ref> To counter this, the [[Yishuv]] authorities tried to supply the city with convoys of up to 100 armoured vehicles, but the operation became more and more impractical as the number of casualties in the relief convoys surged. By March, Al-Husayni's tactic had paid off. Almost all of the Haganah's armoured vehicles had been destroyed, the blockade was in full operation, and hundreds of Haganah members who had tried to bring supplies into the city were killed.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.163">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 163</ref> The situation for those who dwelt in the Jewish settlements in the highly isolated [[Negev]] and North of Galilee was even more critical.

[[File:Semiramis Hotel.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the [[Semiramis Hotel bombing]], perpetrated by the [[Haganah]]]]

From January onward, operations became increasingly militarized. In all the mixed zones where both communities lived, particularly [[Jerusalem]] and [[Haifa]], increasingly violent attacks, [[1947 Jerusalem riots|riots]], reprisals and counter-reprisals followed each other. Isolated shootings evolved into all-out [[battle]]s. Attacks against traffic, for instance, turned into ambushes as one bloody attack led to another.

[[File:Ben Yehuda bombing 1948.jpg|thumb|right|Destruction in Jerusalem caused by the [[Ben Yehuda Street bombing]]]]

On 22 February 1948, supporters of [[Mohammad Amin al-Husayni]] organized, with the help of certain British deserters, three attacks against the Jewish community. Using [[car bomb]]s aimed at the headquarters of the pro-Zionist ''[[Jerusalem Post|Palestine Post]]'' newspaper, the [[Ben Yehuda Street bombings|Ben Yehuda St. market]] and the backyard of the Jewish Agency's offices, they killed 22, 53, and 13 Jewish people respectively, a total of 88 fatalities. Hundreds of others were injured.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 24</ref><ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 36</ref>

In retaliation, [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] put a [[Cairo–Haifa train bombings 1948|landmine on the railroad track]] in [[Rehovot]] on which a train from [[Cairo]] to [[Haifa]] was travelling, killing 28 British soldiers and injuring 35.<ref>''The Times'', 1 March 1948</ref> This would be copied on 31 March, close to [[Caesarea Maritima]], which would lead to the death of forty people, injuring 60, who were, for the most part, Arab civilians.<ref>Newspapers of the time: ''[[The Palestine Post]]'', 1 April 1948 and ''[[The Times]]'', on the same day, attribute the incident to Lehi.</ref>

[[David Ben-Gurion]] reorganized the Haganah and made conscription obligatory. Every Jewish man and woman in the country had to receive military training.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

===Allied Powers' policies===
This situation caused the [[United States]] to withdraw their support for the partition plan and instead [[American trusteeship proposal for Palestine|propose a trusteeship for Palestine]] in March 1948, thus encouraging the [[Arab League]] to believe that the Palestinian Arabs, reinforced by the Arab Liberation Army, could put an end to the plan for partition. The British, on the other hand, decided on 7 February 1948, to support the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by [[Jordan|Transjordan]].<ref name="Henry Laurens 2005 p.83">[[#laurens|Henry Laurens (2005)]], p. 83</ref>

===Population evacuations===
While the Jewish population had received strict orders requiring them to hold their ground everywhere at all costs,<ref name="Larry Collins 1971 p.163">[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 163</ref> the Arab population was more affected by the general conditions of insecurity to which the country was exposed. Up to 100,000 Arabs, from the urban upper and middle classes in Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, or Jewish-dominated areas, evacuated abroad or to Arab centres eastwards.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.67">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 67</ref>

===Fighters and arms from abroad===
As a consequence of funds raised by [[Golda Meir]] which were donated by sympathisers in the United States, and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s decision to support the [[Zionism|Zionist]] cause, the Jewish representatives of Palestine were able to sign very important armament contracts in the East. Other Haganah agents recovered stockpiles from the Second World War, which helped improve the army's equipment and logistics. The [[Jewish Agency]] had set aside for foreign arms purchases alone 28 million dollars. By comparison, the [[Arab Higher Committee]]'s total budget at this time amounted to $2,250,000, equivalent to the [[Haganah]]'s annual budget in pre-war times.<ref>[[Henry Laurens (scholar)|Henry Laurens]], ''La Question de Palestine,'' vol. 3 [[Fayard]] 2007 p. 33.</ref>

There was an intervention of a number of [[Arab Liberation Army]] regiments inside Palestine, each active in a variety of distinct sectors around the different coastal towns. They consolidated their presence in [[Galilee]] and [[Samaria]].<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 pp.51-56">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 51–56</ref> [[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]] came from Egypt with several hundred men of the [[Army of the Holy War]].

German and Bosnian WWII veterans, including a handful of former intelligence, [[Wehrmacht]], and [[Waffen SS]] officers, were among the volunteers fighting for the Palestinian cause.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=85}}</ref> Veterans of WWII [[Axis Powers|Axis]] militaries were represented in the ranks of the ALA forces commanded by [[Fawzi al-Qawuqji]] (who had been awarded an officer's rank in the Wehrmacht during WWII)<ref name="Höpp, 1995">"Ruhmloses Zwischenspiel: Fawzi al-Qawuqji in Deutschland, 1941–1947", by Gerhard Höpp in Peter Heine, ed., Al-Rafidayn: Jahrbuch zu Geschichte und Kultur des modernen Iraq (Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 1995), ([https://web.archive.org/web/20191220231025/http://www.zmo.de/biblio/nachlass/hoepp/01_30_064.pdf]), p. 16</ref> and in the Mufti's forces, commanded by Abd al-Qadir (who had fought with the Germans against the British in Iraq) and Salama (who trained in Germany as a commando during WWII and took part in a failed [[Operation Atlas (Mandatory Palestine)|parachute mission]] into Palestine).<ref name="RubinSchwanitz2014">{{cite book|author1=Barry Rubin|author2=Wolfgang G. Schwanitz|title=Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHe9AgAAQBAJ|date=2014|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-14090-3|page=241}}</ref>

Benny Morris writes that the Yishuv was more successful in attracting and effectively deploying foreign military professionals than their Arab adversaries. He concludes that the ex-Nazis and Bosnian Muslims recruited by the Palestinians, Egyptians, and Syrians "proved of little significance" to the outcome of the conflict.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=403}}</ref>

===Death toll===
In December 1947, the Jewish death toll was estimated at over 200, and, according to [[Alec Kirkbride]], by 18 January 1948, 333 Jews and 345 Arabs had been killed while 643 Jews and 877 Arabs had been injured.<ref>[[#gelber2004|Yoav Gelber (2004)]], p. 67</ref> The overall death toll between December 1947 and January 1948 (including British personnel) was estimated at 1,000 people, with 2,000 injured.<ref>[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/FDF734EB76C39D6385256C4C004CDBA7 Special UN report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003080945/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/FDF734EB76C39D6385256C4C004CDBA7 |date=3 October 2010 }} by the United Nations Special Commission (16 February 1948), § II.5</ref>

[[Ilan Pappé]] estimates that 400 Jews and 1,500 Arabs were killed by January 1948.<ref name=Pappep72>[[#Pappep72|Ilan Pappe (2006)]], p. 72.</ref> Morris says that by the end of March 1948, the Yishuv had suffered about a thousand dead.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=113}}</ref> According to Yoav Gelber, by the end of March there was a total of 2,000 dead and 4,000 wounded.<ref name="gelber85"/> These figures correspond to an average of more than 100 deaths and 200 casualties per week among a population of 2,000,000.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

==Intervention of foreign forces in Palestine==
[[File:Arab volunteers.jpg|thumb|right|Arab volunteers fighting in Palestine in 1947]]
Violence kept intensifying with the intervention of military units. Although responsible for law and order up until the end of the mandate, the British did not try to take control of the situation, being more involved in the liquidation of the administration and the evacuation of their troops.<ref>[[#rapport special|United Nations Special Commission (16 February 1948)]], § II.9.c</ref><ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 185</ref> Furthermore, the authorities felt that they had lost enough men already in the conflict.

The British either could not or did not want to impede the intervention of foreign forces into Palestine.<ref>This policy would change; at the end of the mandate, the High Commissioner, [[Alan Cunningham]], opposed the deployment of [[Arab Legion]] troops into the territory and threatened the Arab states with [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] intervention if they grouped their forces around the border or crossed it. ([[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 115)</ref><ref>L. Carl Brown, ''Diplomacy in the Middle East: The International Relations of Regional and Outside powers'', I.B.Tauris, 2004, pp. 26–27.</ref> According to a special report by the UN Special Commission on Palestine:<ref>[[#rapport special|United Nations Special Commission (16 February 1948)]], § II.7</ref>
* During the night of 20–21 January, a force of 700 [[Syrian people|Syrians]] in battle dress, well-equipped, with mechanized transport, entered Palestine 'via [[Jordan|Transjordan]].'
* On 27 January, 'a band of 300 men from outside Palestine, was established in the area of [[Safed]] in [[Galilee]] and was probably responsible for the intensive heavy weapon and [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] attacks the following week against the settlement of Yechiam.'
* During the night of 29–30 January, a battalion of the [[Arab Liberation Army]], 950 men in 19 vehicles commanded by Fawzi al-Qawuqji, entered Palestine 'via [[Jisr ed-Damiye|Adam Bridge]] and dispersed itself around the villages of [[Nablus]], [[Jenin]], and [[Tulkarem]].'

This description corresponds to the entry of Arab Liberation Army troops between 10 January and the start of March:<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 pp.51-56"/>

* The Second regiment of [[Yarmouk River|Yarmouk]], under the orders of [[Adib Shishakli]]<ref>Shishakli would seize the power in Syria between 29 October 1951 and 25 February 1954 ([[#laurens|Henry Laurens (2005)]], pp. 115–116)</ref> entered [[Galilee]] via [[Lebanon]] on the night of 11–12 January. The battalion passed through [[Safed]] and then settled in the village of Sasa. A third of the regiment's fighters were Palestinian Arabs, and a quarter were [[Syrian people|Syrian]].
* The 1st Yarmouk regiment, commanded by Muhammad Tzafa, entered Palestine on the night of 20–21 January, via the Bridge of Damia from Jordan and dispersed around [[Samaria]], where it established its HQ, in the Northern Samarian city of [[Tubas (city)|Tubas]]. The regiment was composed chiefly of Palestinian Arabs and [[Iraqi people|Iraqis]].
* The Hittin regiment, commanded by Madlul Abbas, settled in the west of Samaria with its headquarters in [[Tulkarem]].
* The Hussein ibn Ali regiment provided reinforcement in [[Haifa]], [[Jaffa]], [[Jerusalem]], and several other cities.
* The Qadassia regiment were reserves based in Jab'a.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji, Field Commander of the Arab Liberation Army, arrived, according to his own account, on 4 March, with the rest of the logistics and around 100 [[Bosniaks|Bosniak]] volunteers in Jab'a, a small village on the route between [[Nablus]] and [[Jenin]]. He established a headquarters there and a training centre for Palestinian Arab volunteers. In addition, roughly 100 to 200 British soldiers and police officers, many of whom had developed bitterness towards the Zionist movement and/or pity for the Palestinians over the course of the British counterinsurgency campaign against the Zionists, deserted to help the Palestinians. In contrast, only 17 deserters fought for the Zionists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Caden |first1=C. |last2=Arielli |first2=N. |date=2021 |title=British Army and Palestine Police Deserters and the Arab–Israeli War of 1948 |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/135106/ |journal=War in History |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=200–222 |doi=10.1177/0968344518796688 |issn=0968-3445}}</ref>

[[Alan Cunningham]], the British [[High Commissioner]] in Palestine, thoroughly protested against the incursions and the fact that "no serious effort is being made to stop incursions." The only reaction came from Alec Kirkbride, who complained to [[Ernest Bevin]] about Cunningham's "hostile tone and threats."<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 51</ref>

The British and the information service of Yishuv expected an offensive for 15 February, but it would not take place, seemingly because the Mufti troops were not ready.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 55</ref>

In March, an Iraqi regiment of the Arab Liberation Army came to reinforce the Palestinian Arab troops of [[Hasan Salama|Salameh]] in the area around [[Lod|Lydda]] and [[Ramleh]], while Al-Husayni started a headquarters in Bir Zeit, 10&nbsp;km to the north of Ramallah.<ref name = "gelber56">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 56</ref> At the same time, a number of North African troops, principally [[Libya]]ns, and hundreds of members of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] entered Palestine. In March, an initial regiment arrived in [[Gaza City|Gaza]] and certain militants among them reached [[Jaffa]].

==Morale of the fighters==
The Arab combatants' initial victories reinforced morale among them.<ref name="united1948">[[#rapport special|United Nations Special Commission (16 February 1948)]], § II.7.3</ref> The [[Arab Higher Committee]] was confident and decided to prevent the set-up of the UN-backed partition plan. In an announcement made to the Secretary-General on 6 February, they declared:<ref>[[#rapport special|United Nations Special Commission (16 February 1948)]], § II.6</ref>

{{blockquote|The Palestinian Arabs consider any attempt by Jewish people or by whatever power or group of power to establish a Jewish state in an Arab territory to be an act of aggression that will be resisted by force [...]<br />
The prestige of the United Nations would be better served by abandoning this plan and by not imposing such an injustice [...]<br /> The Palestinian Arabs make a grave declaration before the UN, before God and before history that they will never submit to any power that comes to Palestine to impose a partition. The only way to establish a partition is to get rid of them all: men, women, and children.}}

At the beginning of February 1948, the morale of the Jewish leaders was not high: "distress and despair arose clearly from the notes taken at the meetings of the Mapai party."<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 113</ref> "The attacks against the Jewish settlements and main roads worsened the direction of the Jewish people, who underestimated the intensity of the Arab reaction."<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 113, quoting Milstein, Milhemet, vol. 2, p. 47</ref>

The situation of the 100,000 Jews situated in [[Jerusalem]] was precarious, and supplies to the city, already slim in number, were likely to be stopped. Nonetheless, despite the setbacks suffered, the Jewish forces, in particular [[Haganah]], remained superior in number and quality to those of the Arab forces.<ref name="Henry Laurens 2005 p.83"/>

==First wave of Palestinian refugees==
{{Nakba}}
{{Main|1948 Palestinian exodus}}
The high morale of the Arab fighters and politicians was not shared by the Palestinian Arab civilian population. The UN Palestine Commission reported 'Panic continues to increase, however, throughout the Arab middle classes, and there is a steady exodus of those who can afford to leave the country.<ref name="united1948"/> 'From December 1947 to January 1948, around 70,000 Arabs fled,<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 125</ref> and, by the end of March, that number had grown to around 100,000.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.67"/>

These people were part of the first wave of Palestinian refugees of the conflict. Mostly the middle and upper classes fled, including the majority of the families of local governors and representatives of the [[Arab Higher Committee]].<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.67"/> Non-Palestinian Arabs also fled in large numbers. Most of them did not abandon the hope of returning to Palestine once the hostilities had ended.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p.77</ref>

==Policies of foreign powers==
Many decisions were made abroad that had an important influence over the outcome of the conflict.

===Britain and the Jordanian choice===
Britain did not want a Palestinian state led by the [[Mufti]], and opted unofficially instead, on 7 February 1948, to support the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by [[Abdullah I of Jordan]].<ref name="Henry Laurens 2005 p.83"/> At a meeting in London between the commander of [[Jordan|Transjordan]]'s [[Arab Legion]], [[Glubb Pasha]], and [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]], [[Ernest Bevin]], the two parties agreed that they would facilitate the entry of the Arab Legion into Palestine on 15 May and that the Arab part of Palestine be occupied by it. However, they held that the Arab Legion not enter the vicinity of Jerusalem or the Jewish state itself.<ref name="Henry Laurens 2005 p.83"/> This option did not envisage a Palestinian Arab state. Although the ambitions of King Abdullah are known, it is not apparent to what extent the authorities of Yishuv, the [[Arab Higher Committee]] or the [[Arab League]] knew of this decision.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

===United States turnabout===
In mid-March, after the increasing disorder in Palestine and faced with the fear, later judged unfounded, of an Arab petrol embargo,<ref>[[#laurens|Henry Laurens (2005)]], p. 84</ref> the US government announced the possible withdrawal of its support for the UN's partition plan and for dispatching an international force to guarantee its implementation. The US suggested that Palestine instead be put under [[American trusteeship proposal for Palestine|UN supervision]].<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p.71</ref><ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 13</ref> On 1 April, the [[UN Security Council]] voted on the US proposal to convoke a special assembly to reconsider the Palestinian problem; the [[Soviet Union]] abstained.<ref>[http://indaily.net/?p=1299 See the entry at 1 April 1948] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603015145/http://indaily.net/?p=1299 |date=3 June 2009 }}</ref> This U-turn by the US caused concern and debate among Yishuv authorities. They thought that after the withdrawal of British troops, the Yishuv could not effectively resist the Arab forces without the support of the US. In this context, Elie Sasson, the director of the Arab section of [[Jewish Agency]], and several other personalities, persuaded David Ben-Gurion and [[Golda Meir|Golda Meyerson]] to advance a diplomatic initiative to the Arabs. The job of negotiation was delegated to Joshua Palmon, who was prohibited from limiting the Haganah's liberty of action but was authorized to declare that "the Jewish people were ready with a truce."<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 71–73</ref>

===Logistical support of the Eastern Bloc===
In the context of the embargo imposed upon Palestinian belligerents—Jewish and Arab alike—and the dire lack of arms by the Yishuv in Palestine, Soviet ruler [[Joseph Stalin]]'s decision to breach the embargo and support the Yishuv with arms exported from [[Czechoslovakia]] played a role in the war that was differently appreciated.<ref>See [[:fr:Problématique du matériel lors de la guerre de Palestine de 1948|here]]</ref> However, Syria also bought arms from Czechoslovakia for the [[Arab Liberation Army]], but the shipment never arrived due to Haganah intervention.<ref name="gelber2006p50"   />

Possible motivations for Stalin's decision include his support of the UN Partition plan, and allowing Czechoslovakia to earn some foreign income after being forced to refuse [[Marshall Plan]] assistance.<ref>For a discussion of the motivation of Czech aid, see [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/receo_0035-1415_1974_num_5_1_1180 L'aide militaire tchèque à Israël, 1948] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418025421/http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/receo_0035-1415_1974_num_5_1_1180 |date=18 April 2011 }}</ref>

The extent of this support and the concrete role that it played is up for debate. Figures advanced by historians tend to vary. Yoav Gelber spoke of 'small deliveries from Czechoslovakia arriving by air [...] from April 1948 onwards'<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 14</ref> whereas various historians have argued that there was an unbalanced level of support in favor of [[Yishuv]], given that the Palestinian Arabs did not benefit from an equivalent level of Soviet support.<ref>See for example the résumé of an article by [[Arnold Krammer]] [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/receo_0035-1415_1974_num_5_1_1180 L'aide militaire tchèque à Israël, 1948]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418025421/http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/receo_0035-1415_1974_num_5_1_1180 |date=18 April 2011 }}</ref> In any case, the embargo that was extended to all Arab states in May 1948 by the UN Security Council caused great problems to them.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 13</ref>

===Arab leaders' refusal of direct involvement===
Arab leaders did what they could to avoid being directly involved<ref>This term is important. Pappé underlined that they were not ready 'to have their own troops intervene' in the conflict, but that they would rather follow other solutions, such as delegating the task to a voluntary force, like the Arab Liberation Army, that they financed.</ref> in support for the Palestinian cause.<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 146</ref>

At the [[Arab League]] summit of October 1947, in [[Aley]], the Iraqi general, Ismail Safwat, painted a realist picture of the situation. He underlined the better organization and greater financial support of the Jewish people in comparison to the Palestinians. He recommended the immediate deployment of the Arab armies at the Palestinian borders, the dispatching of weapons and ammunition to the Palestinians, and the contribution of a million [[pound sterling|pounds]] of financial aid to them. His proposals were rejected, other than the suggestion to send financial support, which was not followed up on.

Nonetheless, a techno-military committee was established to coordinate assistance to the Palestinians. Based in [[Cairo]], it was directed by Sawfat, who was supported by Lebanese and Syrian officers and representatives of the Higher Arab Committee. A Transjordian delegate was also appointed, but he did not participate in meetings.

At the December 1947 Cairo summit, under pressure by public opinion, the Arab leaders decided to create a military command that united all the heads of all the major Arab states, headed by Safwat. They still ignored his calls for financial and military aid, preferring to defer any decision until the end of the Mandate,<ref name="Ilan Pappé 2000 p.147">[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 147</ref> but, nevertheless, decide to form the [[Arab Liberation Army]], which would go into action in the following weeks.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 5</ref>

On the night of 20–21 January 1948, around 700 armed Syrians entered Palestine via Transjordan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/d3bc8aaa0231aae0802564ad003974d2?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,S%2FAgenda,270|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506015232/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/d3bc8aaa0231aae0802564ad003974d2?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,S%2FAgenda,270 |title=UN Security Council 270th meeting report|archivedate=6 May 2012}}</ref> In February 1948, Safwat reiterated his demands, but they fell on deaf ears: the Arab governments hoped that the Palestinians, aided by the Arab Liberation Army, could manage on their own until the International community renounced the partition plan.<ref name="Ilan Pappé 2000 p.147"/>

==Balance of powers==

[[File:Smg sten MK IIS 01.jpg|right|thumb|[[Sten]] submachine gun]]
The [[Arab Liberation Army]] was, in theory, financed and equipped by the [[Arab League]]. A budget of one million pounds sterling had been promised to them,<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 137</ref> due to the insistence of Ismail Safwat. In reality, though, funding never arrived, and only [[Syria]] truly supported the Arab volunteers in concrete terms. 
Syria bought from [[Czechoslovakia]] a quantity of arms for the [[Arab Liberation Army]] but the shipment never arrived due to Hagana force intervention.<ref name="gelber2006p50"/>

According to Lapierre & Collins, on the ground, logistics were completely neglected, and their leader, Fawzi al-Qawuqji, envisaged that his troops survive only on the expenses accorded to them by the Palestinian population.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 305</ref> However, Gelber says that the Arab League had arranged the supplies through special contractors.<ref name="gelber2006p52"/> They were equipped with different types of light weapons, light and medium-sized mortars, a number of 75&nbsp;mm and 105&nbsp;mm guns, and armoured vehicles but their stock of shells was small.<ref>Benny Morris (2008), p.90.</ref><ref name="gelber2006p13"/>

The situation that the [[Army of the Holy War]] and the Palestinian forces were in was worse. They could not rely on any form of foreign support and had to get by on the funds that [[Mohammad Amin al-Husayni]] could raise. The troops' armament was limited to what the fighters already had. To make things even worse, they had to be content with arms bought on the [[black market]] or pillaged from British warehouses, and, as a result, did not really have enough arms to wage war.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 38</ref>

Until March, Haganah suffered also a lack of arms. The Jewish fighters benefitted from a number of clandestine factories that manufactured some light weapons,<ref>http://www.עמותת-חיל-החימוש.co.il/?section=217#_ftn19 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050411002813/http://www/#_ftn19 |date=11 April 2005 }} produced [[sten]] sub machine guns, 2" and 3" mortars and ammunition</ref> ammunition and explosives. The one weapon of which there was no shortage was locally produced explosives.<ref>{{cite book|title=The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948|first=Dov|last=Joseph|author-link=Dov Yosef|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1960|lccn=60-10976|oclc=266413|url=https://archive.org/details/thefaithfulcity0000unse/page/8/mode/2up|url-access=registration|page=8|quote=For example, all the land mines used against Rommel came from Jewish factories in Palestine.}}</ref> However, they had far less than what was necessary to carry out a war: in November, only one out of every three Jewish combatants was armed, rising to two out of three within Palmach.<ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 25</ref>

Haganah sent agents to Europe and to the United States, in order to arm and equip this army.
To finance all of this, [[Golda Meir]] managed, by the end of December, to collect $25&nbsp;million through a fundraising campaign set about in the United States to capitalize on American sympathisers to the Zionist cause.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], Chap. 12</ref> Out of the 129&nbsp;million US dollars raised between October 1947 and March 1949 for the Zionist cause, more than $78&nbsp;million, over 60%, were used to buy arms and munition.<ref>[[#morris victims fr|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 240</ref>

A leased transport plane was used for the [[Operation Balak]] first arms ferry flight from [[Czechoslovakia]] on the end of March 1948. At the beginning of April 1948, a shipment of thousands of rifles and hundreds of machine guns arrived at Tel Aviv harbor. With this big shipment, Haganah could supply weapons to a concentrated effort, without taking over the arms of other Jewish territory and risking them being with no weapons.<ref name="morris2008p117"/>  Haganah went into the offensive, although still lacking heavy weapons.

==Reorganisation of Haganah==
[[File:Ordre de bataille Palestine avril 48.gif|right|thumb|Theatre of Operation of each Haganah brigade.]]
After 'having gotten the Jews of Palestine and of elsewhere to do everything that they could, personally and financially, to help [[Yishuv]],' Ben-Gurion's second greatest achievement was his having successfully transformed Haganah from being a clandestine [[paramilitary]] organization into a true army.<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p.79</ref> Ben-Gurion appointed [[Israel Galili]] to the position of head of the High Command counsel of Haganah and divided Haganah into 6 [[infantry]] brigades, numbered 1 to 6, allotting a precise theatre of operation to each one. Yaakov Dori was named Chief of Staff, but it was Yigael Yadin who assumed the responsibility on the ground as chief of Operations. Palmach, commanded by [[Yigal Allon]], was divided into 3 elite brigades, numbered 10–12, and constituted the mobile force of Haganah.<ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 31</ref> Ben-Gurion's attempts to retain personal control over the newly formed [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] lead later in July to [[The Generals' Revolt]].

On 19 November 1947, obligatory [[conscription]] was instituted for all men and women aged between 17 and 25. By end of March 21,000 people had been conscripted.<ref>Joseph, pp. 23, 38. Gives the date of the call-up as 5 December.</ref><ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 80</ref> On 30 March the call-up was extended to men and single women aged between 26 and 35. Five days later a General Mobilization order was issued for all men under 40.<ref>Levin, pp. 32, 117. Pay £P2 per month. c.f. would buy 2 lbs. of meat in Jerusalem, April 1948. p. 91.</ref>

"From November 1947, the Haganah, (...) began to change from a territorial militia into a regular army. (...) Few of the units had been well trained by December. (...) By March–April, it fielded still under-equipped battalion and brigades. By April–May, the Haganah was conducting brigade size offensive."<ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 16–17</ref>

==War of the roads and blockade of Jerusalem==

===Geographic situation of the Jewish zones===
[[File:Jewish zones 12147.PNG|thumb|right|Map of Jewish settlements and roads in Palestine by 1 December 1947]]
Apart from on the coastline, Jewish [[yishuv]]im, or settlements, were very dispersed. Communication between the coastal area (the main area of Jewish settlements) and the peripheral settlements was by road. These road were an easy target for attacks, as most of them passed through or near entirely Arab localities. The isolation of the 100,000 Jewish people in [[Jerusalem]] and other Jewish settlements outside the coastal zone, such as kibbutz [[Kfar Etzion]], halfway on the strategic road between Jerusalem and [[Hebron]], the 27 settlements in the southern region of [[Negev]]<ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.34">[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 34</ref> and the settlements to the north of [[Galilee]], were a strategic weakness for the Yishuv.

The possibility of evacuating these difficult to defend zones was considered, but the policy of [[Haganah]] was set by David Ben-Gurion. He stated that "what the Jewish people have has to be conserved. No Jewish person should abandon his or her house, farm, [[kibbutz]] or job without authorization. Every outpost, every colony, whether it is isolated or not, must be occupied as though it were [[Tel Aviv]] itself."<ref name="Larry Collins 1971 p.163"/> No Jewish settlement was evacuated until the invasion of May 1948. Only a dozen kibbutzim in Galilee, and those in Gush Etzion sent women and children into the safer interior zones.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 8</ref>

Ben-Gurion gave instructions that the settlements of Negev be reinforced in number of men and goods,<ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.34"/> in particular the kibbutzim of [[Kfar Darom]] and [[Yad Mordechai]] (both close to [[Gaza City|Gaza]]), [[Revivim]] (south of [[Beersheba]]), and [[Kfar Etzion]]. Conscious of the danger that weighed upon Negev, the supreme command of [[Haganah]] assigned a whole [[Palmach]] battalion there.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 28</ref>

===Siege of Jerusalem===
[[File:Husayni.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]], prominent military leader during the Palestinian Civil War.]]
[[File:Machsom.jpg|thumb|250px|An Arab road block, at the main road to [[Jerusalem]] ]]
{{Main|Battle for Jerusalem (1948)}}

[[Siege of Jerusalem (1948)|Jerusalem]] and the great difficulty of accessing the city became even more critical to its Jewish population, who made up one sixth of the total Jewish population in Palestine. The long and difficult route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after leaving the Jewish zone at [[Khulda|Hulda]], went through the foothills of [[Latrun]]. The 28-kilometre route between [[Bab al-Wad]] and Jerusalem took no less than three hours,<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 214</ref> and the route passed near the Arab villages of [[Saris, Jerusalem|Saris]], [[Qalunya|Qaluniya]], [[Al-Qastal]], and [[Deir Yassin]].<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], pp. 122–123</ref>

[[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]] arrived in Jerusalem with the intent to surround and besiege its Jewish community.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 7</ref> He moved to [[Surif]], a village to the southwest of Jerusalem, with his supporters—around a hundred fighters who were trained in [[Syria]] before the war and who served as officers in his army, [[Army of the Holy War|Jihad al-Muqadas]], or Army of the Holy War. He was joined by a hundred or so young villagers and Arab veterans of the [[British Army]].<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 36–37</ref> His militia soon had several thousand men,<ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 27</ref> and it moved its training quarters to [[Bir Zeit]], a town near [[Ramallah]].

Abd al-Qadir's zone of influence extended down to the area of [[Lod|Lydda]], [[Ramleh]], and the Judean Hills where [[Hasan Salama]] commanded 1,000 men.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 37</ref> Salama, like Abd al-Qadir, had been affiliated with Mufti Haj Amin al Husseini for years, and had also been a commander in the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine]], participated in the [[Rashid Ali]] coup of 1941 and the subsequent [[Anglo-Iraqi War]].<ref name="Hirszowicz2016">{{cite book|author=Łukasz Hirszowicz|title=The Third Reich and the Arab East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTV6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT101|date=10 November 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-40939-9|pages=101–102}}</ref> Salama had re-entered Palestine in 1944 in [[Operation Atlas (Mandatory Palestine)|Operation Atlas]], parachuting into the Jordan Valley as a member of a special German—Arab commando unit of the Waffen SS.<ref>{{cite book|title=Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine|last=Mallmann|first=Klaus-Michael|author2=Martin Cüppers|others=Krista Smith (translator)|year=2010|publisher=Enigma Books|isbn=978-1-929631-93-3|page=200,201}}</ref> He coordinated with al-Husayni to execute a plan of disruption and harassment of road traffic in an attempt to isolate and blockade Western (Jewish) Jerusalem.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.26">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 26</ref><ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 26</ref>

On 10 December, the first organized attack occurred when ten members of a convoy between [[Bethlehem]] and [[Kfar Etzion]] were killed.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.26"/>

On 14 January, Abd al-Qadir himself commanded and took part in an attack against Kfar Etzion, in which 1,000 Palestinian Arab combatants were involved. The attack was a failure, and 200 of al-Husayni's men died. Nonetheless, the attack did not come without losses of Jewish lives: a detachment of [[Convoy of 35|35 Palmach men]] who sought to reinforce the establishment were ambushed and killed.<ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 38</ref>

On 25 January, a Jewish convoy was attacked near the Arab village of [[al-Qastal]].<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.27"/> The attack went badly and several villages to the northeast of [[Jerusalem]] answered a call for assistance, although others did not, for fear of reprisals.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.27">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 27</ref> The campaign for control over the roads became increasingly militaristic in nature, and became a focal point of the Arab war effort.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.27"/> After 22 March, supply convoys to Jerusalem stopped, due to a convoy of around thirty vehicles having been destroyed in the [[gorge]]s of Bab-el-Wad.<ref name="Pierre Razoux 2006 p.66">[[#razoux|Pierre Razoux (2006)]], p. 66</ref>

On 27 March, an important [[Gush Etzion Convoy|supply convoy]] from [[Kfar Etzion]] was taken in an ambush in south of Jerusalem. They were forced to surrender all of their arms, ammunition and vehicles to al-Husayni's forces. The Jews of Jerusalem requested the assistance of the United Kingdom after 24 hours of combat. According to a British report, the situation in Jerusalem, where a food rationing system was already in application, risked becoming desperate after 15 May.<ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.40">[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 40</ref>

The situation in other areas of the country was as critical as the one of Jerusalem. The settlements of Negev were utterly isolated, due to the impossibility of using the Southern coastal road, which passed through zones densely populated by Arabs.<ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.40"/> On 27 March, a convoy of supplies (the Yehiam convoy)<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.163"/> that was intended for the isolated [[kibbutz]]im north-west of Galilee was attacked in the vicinity of [[Nahariya]]. In the ensuing battle, 42–47 [[Haganah]] combatants and around a hundred fighters of the [[Arab Liberation Army]] were killed, and all vehicles involved were destroyed.<ref name="Pierre Razoux 2006 p.66"/><ref name="Efraïm Karsh 2002 p.40"/><ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 254</ref>

==Haganah offensive (1 April – 15 May 1948)==
[[File:Convois 2.JPG|thumb|Shielded Jewish convoy during the blockade of Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road]]
The second phase of the war, which began in April, marked a huge change in direction, as Haganah moved to the offensive.

In this stage, Arab forces were composed of around 10,000 men among which between 3,000 and 5,000 foreign volunteers serving in the [[Arab Liberation Army]].<ref>[[Benny Morris]], in the ''Birth revisited'', 2003, p. 34.</ref><ref>[[Yoav Gelber]], ''Palestine 1948'', 2006, p. 51</ref><ref>[[Ilan Pappe]], ''The ethnic cleansing of Palestine'', 2006, p. 44</ref> [[Haganah]] and [[Palmach]] forces were steadily increasing. In March, they aligned around 15,000 men<ref>[[David Tal (historian)|David Tal]], ''War in Palestine 1948'', 2004, p. 362</ref> and in May around 30,000 who were better equipped, trained and organized.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], in the ''Birth revisited'', 2003, p. 16.</ref><ref>[[Yoav Gelber]], ''Palestine 1948'', 2006, p.73.</ref><ref>[[Ilan Pappe]], ''The ethnic cleansing of Palestine'', 2006, p. 44 gives the number of 50,000 with 30,000 fighting forces.</ref>

The armed Palestinian groups were roundly defeated, Yishuv took control of some of the principal routes that linked the Jewish settlements, and as a consequence, [[Jerusalem]] was able to receive supplies again. Palestinian society collapsed. Many mixed cities were taken by the Haganah as well as [[Jaffa]]. A massive exodus was triggered.

===Plan Dalet===
{{Main|Plan Dalet}}
[[File:Dori and Yadin.JPG|thumb|right|[[Yaakov Dori]], Haganah's Chief of Staff, and his right-hand man, [[Yigael Yadin]], Chief of Operations.]]
Plan Dalet was finalized on 10 March 1948, under the direction of [[Yigael Yadin]]. 75 pages long, it laid down the rules and the objects that were to be followed by Haganah during the second phase of the war. Its principal objective was to secure Yishuv's uninterrupted territorial connections, particularly in response to the war of the roads carried out by Al-Husayni and in preparation for the Arab states' declared intervention. Plan Dalet caused quite a controversy among historians. Some see it as a plan that was primarily defensive and military in nature and a preparation against invasion,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plan D - Master Defense Plan of the Hagana |url=http://www.mideastweb.org/pland.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127025058/http://mideastweb.org/pland.htm |archivedate=27 November 2010 |website=www.mideastweb.org}}</ref> whereas others think that the plan was offensive in nature and aimed at conquering as much of Palestine as possible,<ref>{{cite web |author=Walid Khalidi |date=5 June 1996 |title=Islam, the West, and Jerusalem |url=http://acj.org/w_khalidi.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716172337/http://acj.org/w_khalidi.htm |archive-date=16 July 2006 |access-date=23 July 2011 |publisher=American Committee on Jerusalem}}</ref> or enacted with the aim of [[ethnic cleansing|ethnically cleansing]] Palestine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pappé |first=Ilan |date=2006 |title=The 1948 Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jps.2006.36.1.6 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=6–20 |doi=10.1525/jps.2006.36.1.6 |jstor=10.1525/jps.2006.36.1.6 |hdl=10871/15208 |s2cid=155363162 |issn=0377-919X|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Operation Nachshon (2–20 April)===
{{Main|Operation Nachshon}}
[[File:Nachshon.GIF|thumb|right|Map of Operation Nachshon's theatre of operations]]
[[File:Fall of Qastel on April 5 1948.jpg|thumb|right|[[Haganah]] soldier in [[Al-Qastal]] on 5 April 1948.]]
[[File:Kastal.jpg|thumb|Palestinian irregulars of the [[Holy War Army]], approaching [[Al Qastal, Palestine|al-Qastal]] village near Jerusalem to take it back from Palmach.]]
At the end of March 1948, Husayni's troops prevented supply convoys from reaching Jerusalem. The city was besieged and the Jewish population was forced to adhere to a rationing system. Ben-Gurion decided to launch the operation Nachshon to open up the city and provide supplies to Jerusalem.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 369</ref> [[Operation Nachshon]] marked the [[Haganah]] shift to the offensive, even before launching [[plan D]].<ref name="morris2008p116">{{cite book|author=Benny Morris|title=1948: a history of the first Arab-Israeli war|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5jtAAAAMAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|page=116|isbn=9780300126969|quote="At the time, Ben-Gurion and the HGS believed that they had initiated a one-shot affair, albeit with the implication of a change of tactics and strategy on the Jerusalem front. In fact, they had set in motion a strategic transformation of Haganah policy. Nahshon heralded a shift from the defensive to the offensive and marked the beginning of the implementation of tochnit dalet (Plan D)—without Ben-Gurion or the HGS ever taking an in principle decision to embark on its implementation. }}</ref>

The first orders were given on 2 April 1948 with diversion attacks including Qastel.<ref>Yoav Gelber 2006, p. 83</ref> Between 5–20 April 1500 men from the Givati and Harel brigades took control of the road to Jerusalem<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 372</ref> and allowed 3 or 4 convoys to reach the city.<ref>[[Benny Morris]] ([[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 236) speaks of 3 resupply convoys but Lapierre and Collins ([[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 456) speak of a fourth convoy of 300 lorries that left Kfar Biou on the dawn of 20 April.</ref>

The operation was a military success. All the Arab villages that blocked the route were either taken or destroyed, and the Jewish forces were victorious in all their engagements. Nonetheless, not all the objectives of the operation were achieved, since only 1800 tonnes of the 3,000 envisaged were transported to the city, and two months of severe rationing had to be assumed.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 457</ref>

[[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]] was killed during the night of 7–8 April, in the midst of the battles taking place in [[Al-Qastal]]. The loss of this charismatic Palestinian leader 'disrupted the Arab strategy and organization in the area of Jerusalem.'<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 455</ref> His successor, [[Emil Ghuri]], changed tactics: instead of provoking a series of ambushes throughout the route, he had a huge road block erected at Bab al-Wad, and Jerusalem was once again isolated as a consequence.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 456</ref>

Operation Nachshon exposed the poor military organization of the Palestinian paramilitary groups. Due to lack of logistics, particularly food and ammunition, they were incapable of maintaining engagements that were more than a few hours away from their permanent bases.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.89">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 89</ref>

Faced with these events, the [[Arab Higher Committee]] asked Alan Cunningham to allow the return of the Mufti, the only person capable of redressing the situation. Despite obtaining permission, the Mufti did not get to Jerusalem. His declining prestige cleared the way for the expansion of the influence of the Arab Liberation Army and of [[Fawzi Al-Qawuqji]] in the Jerusalem area.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.89"/>

In April, Yishuv forces began to resort to [[biological warfare]] in a [[Operation Cast Thy Bread|top-secret operation called 'Cast Thy Bread']], whose aim was to prevent the return of Palestinians to the villages Yishuv forces had conquered, and, as the practice reached beyond the key Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem lines, make conditions difficult for any Arab armies that might retake territory. This consisted in poisoning village wells. In the final months of the ensuing 1948 Arab-Israeli war, as Israel gained the upper hand, orders were apparently given to extend the use of biological agents against the Arab states themselves.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], [[Benjamin Z. Kedar]],    [https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2022.2122448 ‘Cast thy bread’: Israeli biological warfare during the 1948 War] [[Middle Eastern Studies (journal)|Middle Eastern Studies]]  19 September 2022, pages =1-25 pp.2-3.</ref>

===Battle of Mishmar HaEmek (4–15 April)===
[[File:Mishmar HaEmek.JPG|thumb|right|Women training at [[Mishmar HaEmek]]]]
[[File:MishmarHaemek2.jpg|thumb|right|Jewish soldiers at the entry of the Mishmar Ha'emek, 1948]]
{{main|Battle of Mishmar HaEmek}}
Mishmar HaEmek is a [[kibbutz]] that was founded by [[Mapam]] in 1930, in the [[Jezreel Valley]], close to the road between [[Haifa]] and [[Jenin]] that passes the [[Megiddo (kibbutz)|Megiddo kibbutz]]. It is situated in a place that [[Haganah]] officers considered to be on one of the most likely axes of penetration for a 'major Arab attack' against the Yishuv.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 403</ref><ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.240">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 240</ref>

On 4 April, the Arab Liberation Army launched an attack on the kibbutz with the support of artillery. The attack was fought off by the members of the kibbutz, who were supported by Haganah soldiers. The artillery fire that had almost totally destroyed the kibbutz was stopped by a British column, who arrived on the scene by order of General MacMillan, and, on 7 April, [[Fawzi Al-Qawuqji]] accepted a 24-hour [[ceasefire]], but required that the kibbutz be surrendered. The inhabitants of the kibbutz evacuated their children, and, after having consulted Tel Aviv, refused to surrender.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.240"/><ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 426</ref>

On 8 or 9 April, Haganah prepared a counter-offensive. [[Yitzhak Sadeh]] was put in charge of operations, with the order to 'clean out' the region. The battle lasted until 15 April. Sadeh's men besieged all the villages around the kibbutz, and the [[Arab Liberation Army]] had to retreat to its bases in Jabba. The majority of the inhabitants of the region fled, but those who did not were either imprisoned or expelled to Jenin. The villages were plundered by some [[Kibbutz]]nikim and razed to the ground with explosives with accordance to Plan Dalet.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 pp.242-243">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 242–243</ref><ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], ''The destruction of the Arab villages'', pp. 342–360.</ref>

According to [[Benny Morris|Morris]], the Arab Liberation Army soldiers were demoralized by reports of the [[Deir Yassin massacre]] and the death of [[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]]. Throughout battle, they had generally been forced to withdraw and to abandon the people of the villages.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.242">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 242</ref> [[Dominique Lapierre]] and [[Larry Collins (writer)|Larry Collins]] report that [[Joshua Palmon]], head of a unit of 6 men, failed to seize invaluable pieces of artillery, and they depict the events as a débâcle for which [[Fawzi Al-Qawuqji]] offered extravagant excuses, declaring in particular that the Jewish forces has 120 tanks, six squadrons of fighter and bomber aircraft and that they were supported by a regiment of Russian volunteers.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 427</ref> According to Morris, "according to Ben-Gurion, some 640 Haganah soldiers had faced about twenty-five hundred ALA troops, with superior firepower—and bested them".<ref name="gelber2006p136"/> When the battle finished, [[Palmach]] forces continued 'cleaning' operations until 19 April, destroying several villages and forcing those who inhabited them to flee. Some villages were also evacuated under the instruction of Arab authorities.<ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 243–244</ref>

In May, [[Irgun]] engaged in several operations in the region, razing a number of villages and killing some of their inhabitants, as did some detachments from the Golani and Alexandroni brigades.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.244">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 244</ref>

===Deir Yassin massacre===
{{Main|Deir Yassin massacre}}

[[Deir Yassin]] is a village located 5&nbsp;kilometres west of Jerusalem. On 9 April 1948, independently of operation Nachshon, around 120 [[Irgun]] and [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] men attacked the village and ran into resistance,  capturing it after a fierce battle with Palmach help. The Irgun and Lehi lost 4 dead and 35 wounded. Between 100 and 120 inhabitants of the village were killed in the attack, mostly civilians.<ref name=GelberAppendix>Yoav Gelber, ''Palestine 1948'', [http://www.ee.bgu.ac.il/~censor/katz-directory/05-12-14gelber-palestine-1948-appendix-II-what-happened-in-deir-ypssin-english.pdf Appendix II]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Haganah had approved the attack and assisted in it.<ref name=GelberAppendix/>

The operation led to indignation from the international community, the more so since the press of the time reported that the death toll was 254. Ben-Gurion roundly condemned it,<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 317</ref> as did the principal Jewish authorities: the [[Haganah]], the Great Rabbinate and the [[Jewish Agency for Israel]], who sent a letter of condemnation, apology and condolence to King [[Abdullah I of Jordan]].<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.239">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 239</ref>

According to [[Benny Morris|Morris]], "the most important immediate effect of the atrocity and the media campaign that followed it was how one started to report the fear felt in Palestinian towns and villages, and, later, the panicked fleeing from them."<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.239"/> Another important repercussion was within the Arab population of neighbouring Arab states, which, once again, increased its pressure on the representatives of these states to intervene and come to the aid of the Palestinian Arabs.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.239"/><ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 528</ref>

===Hadassah medical convoy massacre===
{{Main|Hadassah medical convoy massacre}}

On 13 April, partly in revenge for the Deir Yassin massacre, a [[Hadassah medical convoy massacre|convoy that was driving towards Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital]] on Mount Scopus was attacked by hundreds of Arabs. In the seven-hour battle 79 Jews were killed including doctors and patients.<ref name="gelber2006p50"/> Thirteen British soldiers were present, but they stood by, only putting in a perfunctory attempt at intervention in the last moments of the massacre.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], pp. 429–442</ref>

Lieutenant-Colonel [[Jack Churchill]] was present at the scene, and later testified that he had attempted to assist the Hadassah convoy by radioing for support, only for the request to be turned down.<ref>Robert Barr Smith, ''Fighting Jack Churchill Survived: A Wartime Odyssey Beyond Compare'' World War Two History, Profiles Column, July 2005</ref>

===Battle of Ramat Yohanan and the defection of the Druze===
Following the 'fiasco'<ref>This word is from [[Yoav Gelber]] ([[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 93)</ref> of Mishmar HaEmek, Fawzi Al-Qawuqji ordered the [[Druze]] regiment of the [[Arab Liberation Army]] into action, to carry out diversion operations. Druze soldiers took position in several Arab villages 12&nbsp;kilometres to the east of Haifa,<ref>Shafa 'Amr, Khirbet Kasayir et Hawsha</ref> whence they occasionally attacked traffic and Jewish settlements, including [[Ramat Yohanan]].<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.244"/>

The Kibbutznikim and the Haganah soldiers that supported them forced back their attacks and razed the villages from which they launched their attacks. Having run out of ammunition, the Druze withdrew to their base in [[Shefa-'Amr]], with one hundred casualties.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.93">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 93</ref><ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 245</ref> After an initial failure, a battalion-sized Carmeli force on the night of 15–16 April overran the two villages. The Druze Battalion, on 16 April assaulted the Carmeli positions nine times but the Carmeli troops fought back. By afternoon, the exhausted Druze troops retreated. A Haganah report praised "the well trained and very brave enemy forces."<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=137}}</ref>

The Druze had already made contact on several occasions with Yishuv agents and following their defeat at Ramat Yohanan, the Druze officers offered to defect and to join the ranks of Haganah. This proposition was discussed with [[Yigael Yadin]], who refused the proposal but suggested that they could help to carry out sabotage operations behind the backs of the Arabs and to influence their comrades into deserting the army. By the start of May, 212 Wahab soldiers deserted. Taking into account the attitude of his men, Wahab met with Jewish liaison officers on 9 May and agreed to cooperate with Haganah. The two parties avoided clashes, and Wahab created a neutral enclave in the centre of [[Galilee]]. Wahab's army did not respond to calls for it to help fight Haganah's occupation of [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], and avoided being present while Haganah occupied the police fortress of Shefa-'Amr during its evacuation by the British.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.93"/>

The position that the Druze took influenced their fate after the war. Given the good relationship between the Druze and Yishuv from 1930 onwards despite their collaboration with the Arab Higher Council and the [[Arab League]], Ben-Gurion insisted that the Druze, as well as the [[Circassians]] and the [[Maronites]] benefit from a different position to that of the other Arabs.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 225–226</ref>

===Siege of mixed localities===
In the context of Plan Dalet, mixed urban centres, or those on the borders of the Jewish state, were attacked and besieged by Jewish forces. [[Tiberias]] was attacked on 10 April and fell six days later; [[Haifa]] fell on 23 April, after only one day of combat ([[Operation Bi'ur Hametz]]), and [[Jaffa]] was attacked on 27 April but fell only after the British abandoned it ([[Operation Hametz]]). [[Safed]] and [[Beisan]] ([[Operation Gideon]]) fell on 11 May and 13 May respectively, within the framework of Operation Yitfah, and [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] fell on 17 May, within the framework of Operation Ben-Ami.

The Arab inhabitants of these towns fled or were expelled en masse. In these 6 cities, only 13,000 of the total of 177,000 Arab inhabitants remained by the end of May. This phenomenon ricocheted also in the suburbs and the majority of the zone's Arab villages.

Despite the deteriorating situation for the Arabs, a representative of the Arab Higher Committee Representative stated to UN Security Council on April 16 that the Arabs would reject any ceasefire that does not undo the Partition plan.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

===Operation Yiftah (20 April – 24 May)===
{{Main|Operation Yiftach}}
[[File:Yiftah.GIF|thumb|right|Map of Operation Yiftah's theatre of operations]] [[Galilee Panhandle]], a zone in northeastern [[Galilee]], between the [[Sea of Galilee|Lake Tiberias]] and [[Metula]], was the Jewish-controlled area that was the most distant and isolated from the area most densely populated by Jews, the coastal plain. The presence of the Lebanese border to the north, the Syrian border to east and the Arab presence in the rest of Galilee made it a probable target for intervention of the Arab armies.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006), pp. 134–135]]</ref> Within the framework of the Dalet plan, [[Yigael Yadin]] entrusted [[Yigal Allon]], commander of the [[Palmach]], with the responsibility of managing Operation Yiftah, whose objectives were to control all the aforementioned area and consolidate it ahead of the Arab attack that was planned for 15 May.<ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003), p. 248]]</ref>

Allon was in charge the 1st and 3rd Palmach [[battalion]]s, which had to face the populace of [[Safed]] and several dozen Arab villages. The situation was made more problematic by the presence of the British, although they began their evacuation of the area. According to his analysis, it was essential that they empty the zone of any Arab presence to completely protect themselves; the exodus would also encumber the roads that the Arab forces would have to penetrate.<ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 248–250</ref>

On 20 April, Allon launched a campaign that mixed propaganda, attacks, seizing control of strongholds that the British had abandoned, and destroying conquered Arab villages. On 1 May, a counter-offensive was launched by Arab militiamen against Jewish settlements but was ultimately unsuccessful. On 11 May, [[Safed]] fell, and the operation finished on 24 May after the villages of the valley of Hula were burnt down. Syrian forces' planned offensive in the area failed and, by the end of June, Galilee panhandle from Tiberias to Metula, incorporating Safed, was emptied of all its Arab population.<ref>[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 249–252</ref>

===Meeting of Golda Meir and King Abdullah I of Jordan (10 May)===
[[File:Golda Meir 1943.jpg|right|thumb|Golda Meir in 1943]]
On 10 May, [[Golda Meir]] and Ezra Danin secretly went to [[Amman]], to the palace of King Abdullah to discuss the situation with him. The situation that Abdullah found himself in was difficult. On one hand, his personal ambitions, the promises made by the [[Yishuv]] in November 1947{{Citation needed|reason=which promise?|date=July 2013}} and the British approval of these promises pushed him to consider annexing the Arab part of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] without intervening against the future state of Israel. On the other hand, the pressure exerted by his people in reaction to the massacre of Deir Yassin, combined with their feelings with regard to the Palestinian exodus and his agreements with other members of the [[Arab League]] pushed him to be more strongly involved in the war against Israel.<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], p. 167</ref> He also found himself in a position of power, having the benefit of military support from not only the Arab League, but the British. In his diary, Ben-Gurion wrote about Golda Meir's reaction to the meeting:

{{blockquote|We met [on 10 May] amicably. He was very worried and looks terrible. He did not deny that there had been talk and understanding between us about a desirable arrangement, namely that he would take the Arab part [of Palestine]. (...) But Abdullah had said that he could now, on 10 May, only offer the Jews "autonomy" within an enlarged Hashemite kingdom. He added that while he was not interested in invading the areas allocated for Jewish statehood, the situation was volatile. But he voiced the hope that Jordan and the Yishuv would conclude a peace agreement once the dust had settled.<ref>''War Diary 1948–1949'', ed. Elhanan Orren and Gershon Rivlin, Israël Defence Ministry Press, Tel Aviv, 1982, p. 409</ref>}}

Historical analyses of the motivations and conclusions of this meeting differ. According to Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins – as well as Israeli [[historiography|historiographers]]{{who|date=July 2018}}<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], pp. 525–530</ref> – the intention behind the Yishuv's negotiation was to obtain a peace treaty and avoid an attack by Arab forces. At that time, the balance of power was not favourable for them, but Meir did not manage to convince the King.
[[File:Kingabdullahbinhussein.jpg|right|thumb|King Abdullah of Jordan]]

According to Morris,<ref>[[#morris victims fr|Benny Morris (1881)]], p. 221</ref> Abdullah 'reconsidered the promises that he made in November to not be opposed to the partition plan,' but left Meir with the impression that he would make peace with the Jewish state once the civil war had finished.

Avi Shlaim<ref name="Henry Laurens 2005 p.83"/> spoke of a 'tacit' agreement to prevent the division of Palestine with the Palestinians, arguing the idea that there was a collusion between the Hashemite Kingdom and Yishuv. The historian [[Yoav Gelber]], however, rejected this idea and devoted an entire work to dismounting it.<ref>Both theses are developed in [[Avi Shlaim]], ''Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist movement and the Partition of Palestine'', Columbia University Press, 1988 and in [[Yoav Gelber]], ''Israeli-Jordanian dialogue, 1948–1953: cooperation, conspiracy or collusion'', Sussex Academic Press, 2004.</ref>

Pierre Razoux indicated that 'the majority of experts consider it probable'{{Better source needed|reason=is this an objective sources for this. it is probably a mistake|date=July 2013}} that Ben-Gurion and King Abdullah had an understanding over dividing Palestine, and that only the pressure from the Arab states on Abdullah constrained him from following up on his promise. According to Razoux, this idea explains the attitude of the British, who, following this plan, would thereby fulfill the promises made by [[Arthur Balfour]] to the Yishuv and the Hashemite empire at the same time. He states that the presence of Arab Legion troops, before 15 May, near strategic positions held by the British is in this way easy to understand.<ref>[[#razoux|Pierre Razoux (2006)]], p. 523</ref>

Ilan Pappé<ref>[[#pappé|Ilan Pappé (2000)]], pp. 168–169</ref> stressed that neither Abdullah's ministers, nor the Arab world itself, seemed to be privy to the discussions held between him and the Yishuv, even if his ambitions on Palestine were widely known. He also stated that Sir [[Alec Kirkbride]] and [[John Bagot Glubb|Glubb Pasha]] thought at the time that, at the very least, [[Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam|Azzam Pasha]], the Secretary of the Arab League, must have known about Abdullah's double game.

It is certain, on the other hand, that Golda Meir and King Abdullah did not come to an agreement on the status of Jerusalem. On 13 May, the Arab Legion took [[Kfar Etzion]],<ref>[[#karsh|Efraïm Karsh (2002)]], p. 51</ref> strategically located halfway along the road between Hebron and Jerusalem. On 17 May, Abdullah ordered [[John Bagot Glubb|Glubb Pasha]], commander of the Arab Legion, to launch an attack against the Holy City.

===Kfar Etzion massacre===
{{Main|Kfar Etzion massacre}}
[[File:Gush Etzion.GIF|thumb|right|Location of Gush Etzion (highlighted in red)]]
[[File:Etzion Tal Prisoners.jpg|thumb|right|Jewish prisoners taken after the fall of [[Gush Etzion]]]]

Kfar Etzion is a group of four settlements established on the strategic route between Hebron and Jerusalem, right in the middle of Arab inhabited territory. It had 400 inhabitants at the end of 1947. After the adoption of Resolution 181(II), it was the object of Arab attacks. Ben-Gurion reinforced it on 7 December, protecting it with a Palmach division, but on 8 January, he authorized the evacuation of the women and children of the settlements.

After 26 March, the last date on which a [[Gush Etzion Convoy#27 March 1948|supply convoy]] successfully reached it, despite heavy losses of life, the defenders were completely isolated.

On 12 May, [[Arab Legion]] units started to attack the settlements. The motivations advanced include their desire to protect one of their last supply convoys before the embargo took effect, which had to travel down the road by Kfar Etzion. Another theory is that the block of settlements obstructed the deployment of the Legion in the area around Hebron, whose attack was one of Abdullah's principal objectives.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 95</ref> External defences fell quickly, and, on 13 May, the first kibbutz was captured, and those who were taken prisoner were massacred; only four survived.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.96">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 96</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kfar-etzion.co.il/History/tabid/228/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9/PageID/57/History-of-the-Etzion-Bloc1.aspx|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720012337/http://www.kfar-etzion.co.il/History/tabid/228/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9/PageID/57/History-of-the-Etzion-Bloc1.aspx |title=Official site of the kibbutz|archivedate=20 July 2011}}</ref> Of the 131 defenders, 127, including 21 women, were killed, or massacred after they surrendered.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], ''The road to Jerusalem'', p. 139</ref> The other three establishments surrendered, and the kibbutzim were first plundered, then razed to the ground. In March 1949 320 prisoners from the Etzion settlements were released from the "Jordan POW camp at Mafrak", including 85 women.<ref>Moshe Dayan, 'The Story of My Life'. {{ISBN|0-688-03076-9}}. Page 130. Out of a total of 670 prisoners released.</ref>

The events that took place at Kfar Etzion made apparent the limitations of the policy prohibiting evacuation. Although it was effective during civil war, when facing militias, isolated Jewish settlements could not resist the firepower of a regular army, and an evacuation could have made it possible to avoid the captivity or death of those who defended the settlements.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.96"/>

According to Yoav Gelber, the fall and massacre of Kfar Etzion influenced Ben-Gurion's decision to engage the Arab Legion on its way to Jerusalem, although the Haganah General Staff were divided about whether the Legion should be challenged inside Jerusalem itself as such a move could harm the Jews in the city. Ben-Gurion left the final decision to Shaltiel. The battle for Jerusalem was thus set in motion.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.96"/>

===Jerusalem: Operations Yevusi and Kilshon ("Pitchfork") (13–18 May)===
{{Main|Operation Yevusi|Operation Kilshon}}
[[File:Katamon.jpg|thumb|Jewish fighters in Katamon]]
[[File:Bevingrad.jpg|thumb|Bevingrad, centre of the British security zone in Jerusalem]]
[[Operation Yevusi]] lasted two weeks, from 22 April 1948 to 3 May 1948. Not all objectives were achieved before the British enforced a cease-fire. A [[Palmach]] force occupied the strategically located San Simon monastery in [[Katamon]]. Arab irregulars attacked the monastery and a heavy battle evolved. Both sides had a lot of wounded and killed fighters. The [[Palmach]] considered a retreat while the wounded fighters would blow themselves up, but then it was realized that the Arab force was exhausted and could not continue the fighting. As a result, the Arab residents left the suburb and the southern besieged Jewish suburbs were released.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=131}}</ref>

The [[Haganah]] intended to capture the Old City during the final days of the Mandate.<ref name=morrisglubb>[[#morrisglubb|Benny Morris (2002)]], pp. 155–156.</ref> Its attacks on the seam between East and West Jerusalem from 13 to 18 May (known as Operation Kilshon) were planned as the initial phase of this conquest.<ref name=morrisglubb/>

In [[Jerusalem]], the British held several strategically located security zones named "Bevingrads", at its centre. The city's radio station, telephone exchange and government hospital were located there, along with a number of barracks and the Notre Dame hostel, which dominated the city.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 576</ref> One of the main objectives of Operation Kilshon was to take control of these zones of strategic importance while the British withdrew. On 13 May the Haganah extended its control of the Old City's Jewish Quarter and on 14th (having obtained the precise schedule of the evacuation with British complicity) took control of the Bevingrads, including the central post office and the Russian Church compound at 04:00.<ref name=morrisglubb/><ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], pp. 580–582</ref> They surprised the Arab troops, who offered no resistance.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], pp. 575–576</ref>

A secondary objective of Operation Kilshon was to simultaneously create a continuous frontline between the various isolated Jewish localities. For this aim, Brigadier General David Shaltiel, Haganah's former envoy to Europe, was deployed along with a troop of 400 Haganah soldiers and 600 militia soldiers. Emil Ghuri, the new leader of the Army of the Holy War, also envisaged taking these districts and mobilized 600 soldiers for the mission, but prepared no specific operation.

The secondary aim was also successful. In the North of the city, Jewish forces seized Arab-populated [[Sheikh Jarrah]], made a connection with [[Mount Scopus]], and took the villages surrounding the American colony.<ref name=morrisglubb/> In the South, they ensured the connection of the German and Greek colonies with Talpiot and Ramat Rahel, after having taken the Allenby barracks. A Palmach unit even re-established contact with the Jewish district in the Old City via the [[Zion Gate]].<ref>According to this [http://daat.ac.il/daat/english/history/lapidot/27.htm Israeli site] with confirmation from this map [http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/images/jer_maps/UNPartition.html from the Passia organization] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706082909/http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/images/jer_maps/UNPartition.html |date=6 July 2010 }}</ref>

The irregular Arabic forces were rendered impotent and yielded to panic, calling the situation hopeless and announcing the imminent fall of the city.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 140</ref>

===Operation Ben-Ami (13–22 May)===
[[File:Ben'Ami.GIF|thumb|right|300px|Map of Operation Ben-Ami's theatre of operations]]
{{Main|Operation Ben-Ami}}
{{Annotated image | float=right| caption=A Haganah plane dropping supplies to besieged [[Yehiam]], January 1948| image=RWD 13 - Air dropping supplies to Yehiam, 1948.jpg| image-width=320 | width=280| height=140| image-top=-22 |image-left=-33| annotations=}}
Within the framework of [[Plan Dalet]], [[Yigael Yadin]] intended to make a breakthrough in the west of [[Galilee]], wherein a number of isolated Jewish settlements were situated. This zone, which covers the land from [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] all the way to the [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] [[border]], was allocated to the Arabs by the Partition plan, but was on the road through which Lebanese forces intended to enter into Palestine.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 134–135 Although the last (the Lebanese) ultimately would not engage in combat</ref>

The command of this operation was entrusted to [[Moshe Carmel]], head of the Carmeli brigade. It consisted of two phases: the first began on the evening of 13 May, when a column of Haganah's armoured vehicles and lorries advanced along the coast with no resistance. The forces of the Arab Liberation Army fled without entering battle, and the first phase of the operation finished when Acre was taken on 18 May. In the second phase, from 19 to 21 May, troops went as far as the Yehi'am kibbutz by the Lebanese border, connecting it and conquering and destroying a number of Arab villages on the way.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 pp.252">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], pp. 252–254</ref>

===Main wave of the Palestinian Arab exodus===
{{Main|1948 Palestinian exodus|Causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus}}

[[File:Palestinian refugees.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Palestinian refugees|Palestinian Arab refugees]] in 1948]]

Haganah's move to offensive operations during the second phase of the war was accompanied by a huge exodus that involved 350,000 Arab refugees, adding to the 100,000 displaced during the First wave. The term 'Palestinian exodus' is often used to refer to both these and two subsequent waves. These two waves gained a considerable amount of press interest and were widely relayed in the press of the time, more so than most other Palestine-related events.<ref>See, for example, in ''The New York Times'' archives: [https://archive.today/20130104133335/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/96593062.html?did=96593062&FMT=ABS&FMTS=AI&date=May+3,+1948&author=&pub=New+York+Times++(1857-Current+file)&desc=DESPAIR+IS+VOICED+BY+ARAB+REFUGEES : Despair is voiced by Arab refugees]</ref>

The causes of and responsibility for this exodus are highly controversial topics among commentators on the conflict and even historians who specialize in this era. Among the various possible causes, Efraim Karsh attributes the exodus mainly to Arab authorities' instructions to escape,<ref name="KarshEssential">[[Efraim Karsh|Karsh, Efraim]], ''The Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Palestine War 1948''. Osprey Publishing, 2002, pp. 87–92</ref> whereas others argue that a policy of expulsion had been organized by the [[Yishuv]] authorities and implemented by Haganah.<ref>[[Ilan Pappe]], ''The Ethnic cleansing of Palestine'', pp. xii–xiii.</ref> Others yet reject these two assumptions and see the exodus as the cumulative effect of all the civil war's consequences.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', Oxford University Press, 2004, Conclusions.</ref>

===Preparations made by the Arab League===
During the last meeting of the Arab League in February 1948, the Arab leaders expressed their convictions in the capacity of the [[Arab Liberation Army]] to help the Palestinians and to force the international community to give up on the UN-backed partition plan.<ref name="Ilan Pappé 2000 p.147"/> The following summit took place in Cairo on 10 April, with the situation having clearly developed with the death of Al-Husayni and the debacle at Mishmar Ha'emek.

Once again, Ismail Safwat called for the immediate deployment of the Arab state armies at the borders of Palestine, and for the need to go beyond the established policy of participating in little more than small-scale raids towards taking part in large-scale operations. For the first time, the Arab leaders discussed the possibility of intervening in Palestine.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.120">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 120</ref>

[[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]] declared themselves ready to intervene immediately, but King Abdullah refused to let the [[Arab Legion]] forces intervene immediately in favour of the Palestinians, a move which irritated the [[Secretary-General]] of the League, who declared that Abdallah only cedes to the British diktat.

Nonetheless, Abdullah declared himself ready to send the Legion to assist the Palestinian cause after 15 May. In response, Syria insisted that the Egyptian army also take part, and, in spite of the opposition of Egypt's prime minister, [[King Farouk]] responded favourably to the Syrian request, but due to his aim of curbing the [[Jordan|Jordanians']] hegemonic goals rather than his desire to help the Palestinians.<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 p.120"/>

Later on, following the visit of several Palestinian dignitaries in [[Amman]], and despite the opposition of Syria and the Mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, Azzam Pasha accepted Abdullah's proposition and sent Ismail Safwat to [[Amman]] to organize a coordination between the [[Arab Liberation Army]] and Jordan's Arab Legion. It was decided that command over the operations would be reserved for King Abdullah, and that the Iraqis would deploy a brigade in Transjordan to prepare for intervention on 15 May.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 122–123</ref>

On 26 April, the 'intention to occupy Palestine' was officially announced at the Transjordanian parliament and the Jewish people were 'invited to place themselves beneath King Abdullah's jurisdiction.' The intention to spare their lives was also promised. Yishuv perceived this declaration as being one of war and encourages the Western world to pressure the King, through diplomatic means, to prevent his intervention.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 124–125</ref>

On 30 April, Jordanians, Egyptians and Iraqis disputed the command of Abdullah. Abdullah received the honorary title of [[Commander-in-Chief]], while the Iraqi general, Aldine Nur Mahmud, was named Chief of Staff. Despite this show of unity, it was agreed that each army would act independent of each other in the theatre of operations.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 127</ref>

On 4 May, the Iraqi task force arrived at [[Mafraq]]. It was composed of a regiment of armoured tanks, a regiment of mechanized infantry, and twenty-four artillery weapons, and included 1500 men.<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 126</ref> The Egyptians formed two brigades, deploying around 700 men into the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]].<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], p. 128</ref> The Syrians could not put together a better force, whereas the Lebanese announced that they could not take part in military operations on 10 May.

It was only two days before, on 8 May, that the British Foreign Office was certain of the Arab invasion. Whereas British analysts considered that all Arab armies, except the Arab Legion, were not prepared for the engagements to come,<ref>[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 126, 132</ref> the Egyptian officers claimed that their advance would be 'a parade with the least risk,' and that their army 'would be in Tel Aviv after just two weeks.'

The state of preparation of the army was such that they did not even have maps of Palestine.<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], pp. 453–454</ref> At the time, the final plans of invasion had not even been established yet. British leaders tried in vain to make the Arab leaders reconsider their decision,<ref>[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], p. 133</ref> and Ismail Safwat resigned in indifference, but the Arab states seemed resolute. On 15 May 1948, the [[Arab League]] announced officially that it would intervene in Palestine to guarantee the security and right to self-determination of the inhabitants of Palestine in an independent state.

==Results and aftermath==
[[File:Zones controlled by Yishuv by the 20may48.GIF|thumb|right|Zones controlled by Yishuv by 20 May 1948, with comparison to zones held some five months earlier.]]

According to [[Benny Morris]], the result of these five and a half months of fighting was a "decisive Jewish victory". On one side, the "Palestinian Arab military power was crushed" and most of the population in the combat zones was fleeing or had been driven out. On the other side, the "Haganah transformed from a militia into an army" and succeeded "in consolidating its hold on a continuous strip of territory embracing the Coastal Plain, the Jezreel Valley, and the Jordan Valley." The Yishuv proved it had the capability to defend itself, persuading the United States and the remainder of the world to support it and the "victory over the Palestinian Arabs gave the Haganah the experience and self-confidence [...] to confront [...] the invading armies of the Arab states."<ref name = "Morris_1948_p179">[[Benny Morris]], ''1948'', p. 179.</ref>

[[File:Destruction_in_Manshiya_1948.jpg|right|thumb|240x240px|Destroyed buildings in the [[Manshiya]] quarter of Jaffa, May 1948]]

According to [[Yoav Gelber]], during the six weeks between the Haganah offensive on 1 April and the invasion of the Arab armies, the Arabs were defeated in almost every front. The Jewish forces captured four cities ([[Tiberias]], [[Jaffa]], [[Safed]], and [[Haifa]]) and 190 villages; most of their residents fled. The refugees flooded [[Samaria]], central [[Galilee]], [[Mount Hebron]] region, [[Gaza City|Gaza]] region, as well as [[Jordan|Transjordan]], [[Lebanon]], and southern [[Syria]]. With the defeat of the Palestinian forces and the ALA, the Arab League saw no other option than to invade at the end of the British Mandate. The process of deciding to invade and preparing for the attack began two or three weeks before the end of the Mandate, when the level of the defeat was revealed and it was clear the ALA could not prevent it.<ref>[[#gelber2004|Yoav Gelber (2004)]] p. 118</ref>

Although the Haganah was somewhat poorly armed, its offensive of the last weeks went well, because Arab villages did not come to the help of their neighboring Arab villages or towns. Moreover, only a few young Arab men from untouched areas (e.g. Nablus, Hebron) participated in the fighting in Jerusalem, Haifa, etc.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=400}}</ref> [[Anwar Nusseibeh]], a supporter of the Mufti, said the Mufti refused to issue arms to anyone except his political supporters and only recruited his supporters for the forces of the [[Holy War Army]]. This partially accounts for the absence of an organized Arab force and for the insufficient amount of arms, which plagued the Arab defenders of Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Battle for Jerusalem in the Memoirs of Anwar Nusseibeh|url=http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/ViewArticle.aspx?id=200|publisher=Jerusalem Quarterly File, 11–12, 2001|author=Musa Budeiri}}</ref>

On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, on behalf of the Jewish leadership, [[Declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel|declared the establishment]] of the [[State of Israel]].<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Declaration+of+Establishment+of+State+of+Israel.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ''Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel: 14 May 1948''.]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321213130/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%2BProcess/Guide%2Bto%2Bthe%2BPeace%2BProcess/Declaration%2Bof%2BEstablishment%2Bof%2BState%2Bof%2BIsrael.htm |date=21 March 2012 }}</ref> The [[1948 Palestine war]] entered its second phase with the intervention of the Arab state armies and the beginning of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].

==See also==
* [[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|30em| refs=

<ref name="morris2008p117">Morris, 2008, p.117, "The first shipment—of two hundred rifles, forty MG-34 machine guns, and 160,000 bullets—secretly landed during the night of 31 March–1 April at a makeshift airfield at Beit Daras in a chartered US Skymaster cargo plane.29 A second and far larger shipment, covered with onions and potatoes— of forty-five hundred rifles and two hundred machine guns, along with five million bullets—arrived at Tel Aviv port aboard the Nora on 2 April. (A third shipment—consisting of ten thousand rifles, 1,415 machine guns, and sixteen million rounds— reached the Yishuv by sea on 28 April.) Before this, the Haganah high command had had to "borrow" weapons from local units for a day or two for specific operations, and the units (and settlements) were generally reluctant to part with weapons, quite reasonably arguing that the Arabs might attack while the weapons were on loan. Now, at last, the Haganah command had at hand a stockpile of thousands of weapons that it could freely deploy. The two shipments proved decisive. As Ben-Gurion put it at the time, "After we have received a small amount of the [Czech] equipment . . . the situation is radically different in our favor." Without doubt, of all the shipments that subsequently reached the Yishuv, none was to have greater immediate impact or historical significance."</ref>
<ref name="gelber2006p50">{{cite book|author=Yoav Gelber|title=Palestine 1948: War, Escape And The Emergence Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcSUgrDsD_sC|year=2006|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-075-0|pages=50| quote="The ALA’s diverse supply sources created a bizarre arsenal that caused serious logistic problems and rendered maintenance an impossible task. Munitions were often of low quality, damaging the barrels and failing to function when necessary. In December 1947 Syria bought a quantity of small arms from the Skoda plant in Czechoslovakia for the ALA. Jewish saboteurs blew up the ship that carried the cargo to the Middle East and sank it in the Italian port of Bari. The arms were later salvaged and reshipped in August 1948 to Syria – this time for arming Palestinian combatants – but the Israeli navy intercepted the freight and seized the weapons."}}</ref>

<ref name="gelber2006p52">{{cite book|author=Yoav Gelber|title=Palestine 1948: War, Escape And The Emergence Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcSUgrDsD_sC|year=2006|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-075-0|pages=52| quote="to avoid dependence on the population for supplies, and preclude possible intimidation of locals to donate provisions, the League’s military committee had arranged to furnish the troops' rations through special contractors. This semblance of logistics apparently marked significant progress in comparison with the 1936–9 rebellion. Introducing medical services for the combatants and the population made an impression on both the British and the Jews."}}</ref>

<ref name="gelber2006p13">{{cite book|author=Yoav Gelber|title=Palestine 1948: War, Escape And The Emergence Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcSUgrDsD_sC|year=2006|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-075-0|pages=13|quote="The British blockade of the Palestinian coast prevented any substantial increase of these quantities until mid-May. Concurrently, the Arabs succeeded in smuggling into the country small arms that their emissaries had purchased in neighbouring countries. The ALA brought a certain number of support arms and a few artillery pieces and armoured vehicles. Although the gap narrowed, the picture did not materially change, and the Haganah continued to maintain its relative edge."}}</ref>

<ref name="gelber2006p136">{{cite book|author=Benny Morris|title=1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War|url=https://archive.org/details/historyfirstarab00morr|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300145243|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyfirstarab00morr/page/n152 136]| quote="In reality, according to Ben-Gurion, some 640 Haganah soldiers had faced about twenty-five hundred ALA troops, with superior firepower—and bested them."}}</ref>
}}

==References==
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* <span id="gelber2004">[[Yoav Gelber]], ''Independence Versus Nakba''; Kinneret–Zmora-Bitan–Dvir Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|965-517-190-6}}</span> {{in lang|he}}
* <span id="gelber">[[Yoav Gelber]], ''Palestine 1948'', Sussex Academic Press, Brighton, 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-84519-075-0}}</span>
* {{Cite journal |last=Ghanim |first=Honaida |date=2009 |title=Poetics of Disaster: Nationalism, Gender, and Social Change Among Palestinian Poets in Israel After Nakba |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10767-009-9049-9 |journal=International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=23–39 |doi=10.1007/s10767-009-9049-9 |s2cid=144148068 |issn=0891-4486 |access-date=31 December 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319073244/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10767-009-9049-9 |url-status=live }}
* <span id="gresh_vidal">Alain Gresh and Dominique Vidal, ''Palestine 47, un partage avorté'', Editions Complexe, 1994, {{ISBN|978-2-87027-521-4}}.</span>
* {{cite book|ref=Joseph|title=The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948|first=Dov|last=Joseph|author-link=Dov Yosef|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1960|lccn=60-10976|oclc=266413|url=https://archive.org/details/thefaithfulcity0000unse|url-access=registration}}
* <span id="karsh">Efraïm Karsh, ''The Arab–Israeli Conflict – The Palestine War 1948'', Osprey Publishing, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-84176-372-9}}</span>
* {{Cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Rashid |authorlink=Rashid Khalidi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXlwDwAAQBAJ |title=The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 |date=2020 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Books]] |isbn=978-1-62779-854-9}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Khoury |first1=Elias |author-link=Elias Khoury |title=Rethinking the Nakba |journal=Critical Inquiry |date=January 2012 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=250–266 |doi=10.1086/662741 |s2cid=162316338 }}
* <span id="kimché">Jon and David Kimche, ''A clash of destinies, The Arab–Jewish War and the founding of the state of Israel'', Praeger, New York, 1960, </span>
* {{Cite book |last=Kimmerling |first=Baruch |author-link=Baruch Kimmerling |date=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB7lVldlFT4C |title=Clash of Identities: Explorations in Israeli and Palestinian Societies |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-14329-5 |language=en}}
* <span id="lapierre_collins">[[Dominique Lapierre]] and [[Larry Collins (writer)|Larry Collins]], ''O Jérusalem'', Robert Laffont, 1971, {{ISBN|978-2-266-10698-6}}</span>
* <span id="laurens">[[Henry Laurens]], ''Paix et guerre au Moyen-Orient'', Armand Colin, Paris, 2005, {{ISBN|2-200-26977-3}}</span>
* {{cite book |last=Lentin |first=Ronit |author-link1=Ronit Lentin |title=Co-memory and melancholia: Israelis memorialising the Palestinian Nakba |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2W5DwAAQBAJ |date=2010 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |isbn=978-1-84779-768-1}}
* <span id="Levin">Harry Levin. ''Jerusalem Embattled – A Diary of the City under Siege''. Cassels, 1997. {{ISBN|0-304-33765-X}}.</span>
* {{cite journal|author-link= Adel Manna |last=Manna |first=Adel|title=The Palestinian Nakba and Its Continuous Repercussions|journal= Israel Studies|volume=18|issue= 2|year= 2013|doi=10.2979/israelstudies.18.2.86|jstor=10.2979/israelstudies.18.2.86|pages= 86–99|s2cid=143785830 }}
* {{Cite book |authorlink=Adel Manna |last=Manna |first=Adel |url=https://luminosoa.org/site/books/m/10.1525/luminos.129/ |title=Nakba and Survival: The Story of Palestinians Who Remained in Haifa and the Galilee, 1948-1956 |date=2022 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |doi=10.1525/luminos.129 |isbn=978-0-520-38936-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Masalha |first=Nur |authorlink=Nur Masalha |date=9 August 2012 |title=The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=px1jDgAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Zed Books]] |isbn=978-1-84813-973-2 |access-date=2 April 2021}}
* <span id="morrisglubb">[[Benny Morris]], ''The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews'', I.B.Tauris, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-86064-989-9}}</span>
* <span id="morris_victims_fr">[[Benny Morris]], ''Histoire revisitée du conflit arabo-sioniste'', Editions complexe, 2003, {{ISBN|978-2-87027-938-0}}</span>
* <span id="morris_birth">[[Benny Morris]], ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-521-00967-6}}</span>
* {{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Benny |authorlink=Benny Morris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CC7381HrLqcC |title=1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War |date=2008 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-14524-3 |language=en |access-date=14 January 2024}}
* <span id="pappé">[[Ilan Pappé]], ''La guerre de 1948 en Palestine'', La fabrique éditions, 2000, {{ISBN|978-2-264-04036-7}}</span>* <span id="rogan">Eugène Rogan, [[Avi Shlaim]] et al., ''La guerre de Palestine 1948: derrière le mythe'', Autrement, 2002, {{ISBN|978-2-7467-0240-0}}</span>
* <span id=Pappep72>[[Ilan Pappe]], ''The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine'', 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-85168-555-4}}.</span>
* {{Cite book |last=Pappe |first=Ilan |authorlink=Ilan Pappé |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1W7nDwAAQBAJ |title=Ten Myths About Israel |date=2017 |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |isbn=978-1-78663-020-9 |language=en |access-date=16 February 2024}}
* {{Cite book |authorlink=Ilan Pappe |last=Pappe |first=Ilan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrttEAAAQBAJ |title=A History of Modern Palestine |date=2022 |edition=3rd |orig-date=2004 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-24416-9 |access-date=6 November 2023}}
* <span id="rabin">[[Yitzhak Rabin]], ''Mémoires'', Buchet/Chastel, 1980,</span>
* {{cite journal |last1=Rashed |first1=Haifa |last2=Short |first2=Damien |last3=Docker |first3=John |title=Nakba Memoricide: Genocide Studies and the Zionist/Israeli Genocide of Palestine |journal=Holy Land Studies |date=May 2014 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.3366/hls.2014.0076 }}
* <span id="razoux">Pierre Razoux, ''Tsahal, nouvelle histoire de l'armée israélienne'', Perrin, 2006, {{ISBN|978-2-262-02328-7}}</span>
* {{Cite book |last1=Rouhana |first1=Nadim |author-link1=Nadim Rouhana |last2=Sabbagh-Khoury |first2=Areej |author-link2=Areej Sabbagh-Khoury |chapter=Memory and the Return of History in a Settler-Colonial Context: The Case of the Palestinians in Israel |date=2017 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipzDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA393 |pages=393–432 |title=Israel and its Palestinian Citizens: Ethnic Privileges in the Jewish State |editor-last1=Rouhana |editor-first1=Nadim N. |editor-last2=Huneidi |editor-first2=Sahar S. |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-04483-8 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Sa'di |first1=Ahmad H. |author-link1=Ahmad H. Sa'di |chapter=Afterword: Reflections on Representations, History and Moral Accountability |pages=285–314 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbKrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |editor-last1=Sa'di |editor-first1=Ahmad H. |editor-last2=Abu-Lughod |editor-first2=Lila |editor-link2=Lila Abu-Lughod |title=Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the Claims of Memory |year=2007 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-13579-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Shenhav |first=Yehouda |author-link=Yehouda Shenhav |chapter=The Palestinian Nakba and the Arab-Jewish Melancholy |editor=Shai Ginsburg |editor2=Martin Land |editor3=Jonathan Boyarin |title=Jews and the Ends of Theory |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pouUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |date=2019 |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |pages=48–64 |isbn=978-0-8232-8201-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Slater |first=Jerome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y1AAEAAAQBAJ |title=Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020 |date=2020 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-045908-6}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wolfe |first1=Patrick |title=Purchase by Other Means: The Palestine Nakba and Zionism's Conquest of Economics |journal=Settler Colonial Studies |date=January 2012 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=133–171 |doi=10.1080/2201473X.2012.10648830 |s2cid=53367151 |doi-access=free |hdl=1959.3/357334 |hdl-access=free }}

==Further reading==
* [[Uri Milstein]], ''History of Israel's War of Independence: A Nation Girds for War'', vol. 1, University Press of America, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-7618-0372-0}}
* [[Uri Milstein]], ''History of Israel's War of Independence: The First Month'', vol. 2, University Press of America, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-7618-0721-6}}
* [[Uri Milstein]], ''History of Israel's War of Independence: The First Invasion'', vol. 3, University Press of America, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-7618-0769-8}}
* [[Uri Milstein]], ''History of Israel's War of Independence: Out of Crisis Came Decision'', vol. 4, University Press of America, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-7618-1489-4}}
* [[Salim Tamari]], ''Jérusalem 1948: Les faubourgs arabes et leur destin durant la guerre'', Institut des études palestiniennes, 2002, {{ISBN|978-9953-9001-9-3}}

===Online sources===
* <span id="slutsky"></span>Plan Daleth from [http://www.mideastweb.org/pland.htm mideastweb.org]
* <span id="rapport_special">United Nations Special Commission, First Special Report to the Security Council: The Problem of Security in Palestine, 16 February 1948, [https://web.archive.org/web/20101003080945/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/FDF734EB76C39D6385256C4C004CDBA7 from the United Nations website].</span>
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190327093403/http://www.palestineremembered.com/ Palestine remembered] Palestinian view.

===Film===
* Elie Chouraqui, ''[[O Jerusalem (film)|Ô Jérusalem]]'', 2006.

{{Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}
{{Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine}}
{{Anti-Jewish pogroms during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War}}
{{Nakbaend}}
{{Cold War}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Civil War in Mandatory Palestine}}
[[Category:1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine| ]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1947]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1948]]
[[Category:Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Asia]]
[[Category:Civil wars of the 20th century]]
[[Category:Ethnicity-based civil wars]]
[[Category:1940s in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:1947 in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:1948 in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight]]
[[Category:Wars of independence]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wars involving Palestinians]]