1948: Independence

The War of Independence, begun in 1947, intensified in 1948, especially after Israel’s Declaration of Independence. This was Israel’s bloodiest war, resulting in 6,373 casualties on the Israeli side, which succeeded in the conquest of almost all of Palestine’s territory. Israel established its first government in 1948 and opened its doors to Jewish refugees from around the world, including Yemen, Egypt, Iraq and Europe. At the same time, many Arabs fled the fighting and left their villages, hoping to return when the war was over. These groups were not forced out, but rather fled voluntarily, often encouraged by their leaders.

1948 Arab Refugees
1948-1949 Arab Refugees’ Hatred of Egyptians, not Jews
1948 Khaled al-Azm on Arab Refugee Situation
1948 Political Arab Leaders behind Arab Refugee Situation
1948 Defeat of Arabs in 1948 Came as a Surprise for the Arab World
January 1, 1948 Train robbed of Foodstuffs between Lydda and Tel Aviv
January 2, 1948 Illegal Immigration to Palestine
January 5, 1948 Bomb Thrown at Jewish School, Beirut
January 10, 1948 Arab Refugees
January 10, 1948 Arabs Set for “Any Price” United Press, NY Times
January 11, 1948 Jews in Cairo Arrested to Prevent of “Zionist crimes”
January 14, 1948 Fawzi Bey al Kaukji, Volunteer Army of the Arab Nations
January 14, 1948 Mediation Offer made from Pakistan
January 14, 1948 Massacre Report Perturbs Gandhi
January 16, 1948 Palestine Liberation Army
January 18, 1948 Attack on Convoy on Jaffa Road
January 19, 1948 United Nations Sponsored Peace Conference
January 19, 1948 Training of the Arab Liberation Army
January 27, 1948 Convoy of Jewish Trucks Attacked Near Ein Gazala
January 29, 1948 Suleiman Abdul Bey, the Mayor of Nablus
January 30, 1948 Arrival of Arab Bands from Outside of Palestine
February 5, 1948 Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Visits Damascus
February 13, 1948 Israel Offers Peace, the Grand Mufti Rejects
February 16, 1948 Security Situation in Jerusalem
February 16, 1948 Murder in Haifa
February 16, 1948 Mutilation of Jewish Bodies
February 22, 1948 Jerusalem’s Latest Scene of Terrorism
February 22, 1948 Arabs Request Trained Street-Fighters from Syria
February 27, 1948 Arab Leaders Oppose Israel
February 27, 1948 Colonel Abdul Wahab Bey Arrives at Jaffa
March 1948 British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
March 1948 British Granted Concession to Iraq Petrol Company
March 4, 1948 Jewish Force Ambushed, Arabs Kill 17
March 4, 1948 Arab League’s Palestine Committee
March 5, 1948 Arab Liberation Army
March 6, 1948 Heavy Arab Artillery Moved into Palestine via Syria
March 7, 1948 Field Commander of PLA Enters Palestine from Syria
March 9, 1948 Volunteers Invited to Join Arab Forces in Haifa Region
March 9, 1948 Peace Project for Jerusalem
March 11, 1948 Wing of the Jewish Agency Headquarters Blown Up
March 11, 1948 Thirteen Murdered Outside the Jewish Agency Building
March 11, 1948 Small-Scale Guerrilla Raids by Arabs
March 12, 1948 British Reveal Non-Arab Volunteers in Palestine
March 12, 1948 Attack on the Jerusalem-Jaffa Road
March 13, 1948 Arab Attack on Maccabi Quarter, Tel Aviv
March 14, 1948 TWA Plane Leaving Lydda Fired On
March 15, 1948 Support for Jihad by Pakistani Moslem Leaders
March 16, 1948 Palestinian Arab Higher Committee Representative Isa Nakleh
March 17, 1948 Arab Military Commander’s Threats
March 19, 1948 Arab Liberation Army
March 19, 1948 US State Department Says No to State of Israel
March 19, 1948 Arab Claim: Jewish Palestine will Lead to Communism
March 21, 1948 Jewish Convoy Attacked Near Bab el Wad
March 27, 1948 Mutilation of Jewish Corpses by Arabs
March 30, 1948 Jerusalem Jews Ration Bread
March 30, 1948 Secretary of Arab Higher Committee Rejects Jerusalem Truce Proposal
March 30, 1948 Royal Navy Sends Jewish Immigrants to Cyprus
March 30, 1948 Arabs Pick Up and Leave Villages in Tel Aviv Region
March 31, 1948 Jewish Convoy Attacked, Seventeen Killed
March-April 1948 Arab Refugees
April 1948 Arab Refugees
April 1948 Israel Offers Peace
April 3 1948 Arab Higher Committee Encouraged Refugees to Flee
April 4, 1948 British Try to Make Peace Between Sides Fighting at Kastel
April 7, 1948 French Representative in UN – Arabs Fled, Not Forced Out
April 8, 1948 Interview with Sheikh Ismail el Ansary
April 8, 1948 Disruption of Water Supply to Jerusalem
April 9, 1948 Mutilation of Corpses at Kastel
April 9, 1948 Deir Yassin
April 12,1948 Jews of Jerusalem Starving Due to Arab Road Blocks
April 13, 1948 Hadassah Convoy Massacre
April 13, 1948 Hadassah Convoy Massacre – Firsthand Medical Staff Account
April 13, 1948 Hadassah Convoy Massacre – Yehuda Bromberg
April 13, 1948 Hadassah Convoy Massacre – Yehuda Mattot
April 15, 1948 Security Council Failed to Act on Palestine Truce
April 15, 1948 Dr. Barnes to Commander of 2nd Infantry Brigade, Jerusalem
April 15, 1948 Ismail Safwat Pasha, Arab Liberation Armies
April 15, 1948 GOC British Troops in Palestine to President of Zion University
April 15, 1948 Jewish Forces against Arab Forces
April 18, 1948 Dr. Barnes Responds to GOC’s Claims Regarding the Hadassah Massacre
April 18, 1948 6,000 Arabs Suddenly Left Tiberias
April 22, 1948 Excerpts from Syrian and Egyptian Addresses in U.N.
April 23, 1948 Acting Chairman of Palestine Higher Committee
April 23, 1948 Arab Mass Evacuation of Haifa
April 24, 1948 Attacks in Haifa Started By Arabs
Apri 25-29 1948 Arab Refugees
April 26, 1948 Statement of High-Ranking British Officer in Haifa
April 26, 1948 Arab Nations May Invade Palestine by Saturday
April 26, 1948 Arab Evacuation of Acre
April 27, 1948 British Deny Abdullah War on Zionism
April 27, 1948 Arabs Slay Briton
April 27, 1948 558 Immigrants Deported to Cyprus by British
April 28, 1948 Bevin Declares Palestine Exit May 15 Is Sure
May 2, 1948 Arab Nations of the Middle East Invade Palestine
May 2, 1948 Map of Palestine
May 3, 1948 Haifa Becomes a Ghost City
May 5, 1948 Arab Refugees
May 5, 1948 War Develops
May 8, 1948 Lebanese and Jordanian Infiltrators
May 12, 1948 Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League
May 12, 1948 Palestine Regime Planned by Arabs; Will Reject Truce
May 12, 1948 Is Palestine War a Myth? San Francisco Chronicle
May 12, 1948 Foreign Minister of Egypt on Intention to Annihilate Israel
May 13, 1948 Massacre at Kfar Etzion
May 13, 1948 Haganah Galilee Offensive – Operation Ben-Ami
May 13, 1948 President Truman vs. Secretary of State on Palestine
May 14, 1948 Truman and Marshall’s Ongoing Conflict over Palestine
May 14, 1948 Israel’s Declaration of Independence
May 14, 1948 Termination of the White Paper of 1939
May 14, 1948 Palestinian Refugees Flee to Gaza from all over the World
May 15, 1948 Reaction of Arab States to End of British Mandate
May 15, 1948 West Bank Annexed, Gaza Closed Military Zone
May 15, 1948 The New York Times Reports on Declaration of Independence
May 15, 1948 1,256 Jews Killed between Nov ’47 and May ’48
May 15, 1948 Palestine’s Arabs Welcome Advancing Arab Armies
May 15, 1948 Arab Legion Waiting in Jordan to Cross into Palestine
May 16, 1948 Colonel David Marcus Reports on Jewish Forces’ Resolve
May 17 1948 US Delegation to UN on Invasion by Arab Armies
May 18, 1948 Arab Leader Cooperates with King Abdullah
May 19, 1948 Arab Legion Participates in Jerusalem Attack
May 19, 1948 Russian Delegate Reports to U.N. on Arab Aggression
May 20, 1948 Worldwide Indifference to Jordanian Havoc in Jerusalem
May 26, 1948 May 26, 1948 Arabs Urge Action by Security Council
May 27, 1948 Havoc and Destruction in the Old City of Jerusalem
May 30, 1948 Arab Refugees from Jaffa
May 30, 1948 Haganah Takes on Ramleh and Lydda Strongholds
May 30, 1948 Withdrawal of British Officers from Arab Legion
May 30, 1948 Jewish Refugees from Egypt
May 30, 1948 Almost Daily Air Bombardment in Israel
June 1, 1948 Posters Urging Massacre of the Jews, Morocco
June 1, 1948 Fighting by the Port of Nahariya
June 3, 1948 King Abdullah of Jordan
June 4, 1948 Egypt & Lebanon against Jewish State
June 7-8 1948 Jewish Refugees from Morocco
June 11, 1948 Secretary General of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha
June 12, 1948 Peace Talks Scheduled, Arabs May Not Agree to Attend
June 17, 1948 Arab League: U.N. Needs to Shelve Partition Plan
June 21, 1948 Jerusalem Restocked to Near Normal Point
June 30, 1948 Count Bernadotte Proposes Federal State in Palestine
June 30, 1948 Arab Refugees
July 1948 Zionist Activity Punishable by Execution in Iraq
July 1, 1948 Lieutenant General John Glubb on Palestinian Jews
July 1, 1948 Prime Minister Ben-Gurion on Forgiving Britain
July 1, 1948 Two Arab Monarchs Insist on Full Control of Palestine
July 7, 1948 Israeli Civilian Aircraft Shot Down, Two Killed
July 9, 1948 King Farouk Dissatisfied with Arabs Who Fled Palestine
July 10, 1948 Civilians Flee Lydda and Ramleh Before Towns Captured
July 10, 1948 Israeli Forces Capture Lydda Airport
July 11, 1948 Fighting over Ramleh and Lydda
July 12, 1948 Calm in Lydda Shattered
July 13, 1948 Villages near Lydda Recaptured by Israeli Troops
July 19, 1948 Jewish Department Store in Cairo Blown Up
July 19, 1948 Arab Countries Don’t Agree to Arab League’s Truce
July 20, 1948 Pogrom in Egypt
July 24, 1948 Israel Offers Peace
July 27, 1948 Jewish Refugees – Lebanon
July 28, 1948 Jewish Refugees – Egypt
August 1948 – Jewish Refugees – Egypt
August 1 1948 Jewish Refugees – Egypt
August 1, 1948 Israel Offers Peace
August 3, 1948 Arab Refugees
August 4, 1948 Arab Refugees
August 4, 1948 Israel Seeks Freedom for Jews in Cyprus
August 6, 1948 Israel Asks Arabs to Discuss Peace at Direct Parley
August 12, 1948 Arab Refugees
August 13, 1948 Arab Refugees
August 14, 1948 Arab Refugees
August 16, 1948 Arab Refugees
August 28, 1948 – Jewish Refugees – Iraq
August 31, 1948 Jamal Husseini’s Description of the Palestine Situation
September 1948 Jewish Refugees – Iraq
September 6, 1948 Arab Refugees
September 8, 1948 Arabs to Discontinue Talks on Truce Due to Refugees
September 22, 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries
September 23, 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries – Iraq
September 27, 1948 Arab Refugees
September 28, 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries – Egypt
October 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries – Egypt
October 2, 1948 Israel Offers Peace
October 8, 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries – Iraq
October 19, 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries – Iraq
November 1948 Arab Refugees
November 9, 1948 Raphael Lemkin Coins the Word “Genocide”
November 25, 1948 Jewish State Supported by U.N. Majority
December 1948 Arab Refugees
December 1948 Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries – Yemen
December 14, 1948 100,000 Rally in Egypt against Partition of Palestine

1948: Independence

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