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UN Partition Plan
-Jewish leadership accepted the partition plan
-The Arab League firmly opposed the UN action -
Period: to
Jewish and Arabs clash in mandatory Palestine
-Britain organised their withdrawal and intervened occasionally
-An average of more than 100 deaths and 200 casualties per week -
Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, and Syria, invaded the former British Mandate of Palestine and fought the Israelis
-They were supported by the Arab Liberation Army and corps of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Yemen
-Egyptian forces invaded from the south
-Jordanian and Iraqi forces from the east
-Syrian forces invaded from the north
-Cooperation among the various Arab armies was poor -
Operations became increasingly militarised
- Arab Liberation Army infiltrated Palestine -The Army of the Holy War came from Egypt with several hundred men -Al-Husayni organised the blockade of 100,000 Jewish residents in Jerusalem -Almost all of Haganah's armoured vehicles had been destroyed, the blockade was in full operation, and hundreds of members were killed -This caused the US to withdraw support for the Partition Plan, and the Arab League believed that the Arabs, reinforced by the Arab Liberation Army, could end the partition.
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British decided on to support Transjordan's annexation of the Arab part of Palestine
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Battle of Mishmar HaEmek
-battle fought between the Arab Liberation Army and the Haganah
-began when ALA launched an attack against Mishmar HaEmek with the intent of taking the town, (strategically placed between Jenin and Haifa)
-Ceasefire was rejected by Ben-Gurion; instead to launch a counter-attack to clear the ALA and the local Arab inhabitants out of the area
-All of the Palestinian villages captured were destroyed shortly thereafter -
Operation Nachshon
-directed at lifting the blockade on Jerusalem
-it lasted until 20 April
-the operation was a military success
-exposed the poor military organisation of the Palestinian paramilitary groups
-over 700 lorries were able to reach Jerusalem
-the Arabs, however, managed to block the road immediately thereafter -
Deir Yassin massacre
-Zionist paramilitaries attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem killing 107 Palestinian villagers, including women and children
-The attack was conducted by the Irgun and Lehi, and supported by the Haganah and Palmach
-The massacre was carried out despite the village having agreed to a non-aggression pact
-Spread fear throughout the Arab population, causing thousands to flee from elsewhere -
Israeli proclamation of statehood
This consisted of the termination of British mandate and the removal of British troops and arms. -
Period: to
First Phase
-South: Egyptians invade and attack Jewish settlements
-North: Syrian, Iraqi and Lebanese troops cross the border- face heavy Jewish resistance- forced to withdraw
-Jerusalem: Abdullah moved the Arab Legion in to defend- most well trained and efficient of the Arab armies and so the Israelis focused on defeating them first.
-Israel gained control of West Jerusalem, but not the entire city- any Arabs living in this part of Jerusalem fled or were forced out -
UN declared a ceasefire
-overseen by UN mediator Folke Bernadotte
-An arms embargo was declared with the intention that neither side would make gains from the truce
-Neither side respected the truce; both found ways around the restrictions and used the time to improve their provisions -
Both Israel and the Arabs used the ceasefire to improve their own provisions
-Arabs: fresh units and prevented supplies from reaching isolated Israeli settlements
-Israelis: acquiring weapons from Czechoslovakia, improving the training of its forces, and reorganising the army -
Egyptian forces under General Muhammad Naguib renewed the war by attacking Negba
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Period: to
Israeli forces launched a simultaneous offensive on three fronts: Dani, Dekel, and Kedem
-large-scale Israeli offensives and a defensive Arab posture
-Operation Dani resulted in the expulsion from Lydda and Ramle of 60,000 Palestinians
-Operation Dekel, Nazareth was captured on 16 July
-Operation Brosh, Israel tried and failed to drive the Syrian army out of northeastern Galilee
-Israel had taken the lower Galilee from Haifa Bay to the Sea of Galilee -
Period: to
Second Phase
-Israel was able to use their new troop numbers and arms to turn the tide against the Arabs on every front
-Syrian forces were mauled in Galilee and Lebanese were driven back across the border
-Towns were seized back from the Arabs and Israeli focus turned to Egypt
-Palestinian Arab refugees numbered tens of thousands -
Israel bombed a residential neighbourhood in Cairo
-With smuggled Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress planes acquired in violation of the international arms embargo -
The second truce of the conflict went into effect after intense diplomatic efforts by the UN
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Folke Bernadotte killed by the Stern Gang
-Count Bernadotte arranged the first ceasefire and drafted the new one
-The ceasefire gave more land to the Israelis in the north and more to the Arabs in the south
-He was killed by the Stern Gang- leading to their dissolution as well as the Irgun- most members were incorporated into the IDF -
new partition plan for Palestine was proposed but it was rejected by both sides
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Plan Dalet
-Conquest of territory in Palestine in preparation for the establishment of a Jewish state
-Zionist forces shifted to an offensive strategy
-Laying siege to Arab villages, bombing neighbourhoods, expulsion of their inhabitants, and setting fields and houses on fire and detonating TNT in rubble to prevent return
-Some historians characterise it as defensive, while others assert that it was part of a planned strategy for the expulsion of the area's native inhabitants -
Operation Yoav (Israel to Egypt)
-Egyptians regularly blocked the passage of supply convoys
-Yoav goal was to drive a wedge between the Egyptian forces along the coast and Jerusalem
-The operation was a success, shattering the Egyptian army ranks and forcing Egyptian forces to retreat -
Period: to
Third Phase
-Israel completed the conquest of the Galilee region by forcing all Syrian, Lebanese and Arab forces back into their territories
-Israel could concentrate their efforts on defeating the Egypt
-Egypt was surrounded and they were pummelled for weeks by Israel
-Israel were successful in driving all Arab forces from Palestine and invading Egypt- Sinai desert- forcing Egypt to call on Britain
-a truce was struck between Egypt and Israel -
A third truce went into effect
-in defiance of the UN ceasefire order, ALA units stormed the IDF hilltop position of Sheikh Abd
-Ben-Gurion initially rejected demands to launch a counteroffensive, he was wary of antagonising the UN
-the IDF launched Operation Hiram and captured the entire upper Galilee
-It drove the ALA back to Lebanon -
Operation Horev
-to encircle the Egyptian Army in the Gaza Strip and force the Egyptians to end the war
-decisive Israeli victory, and Israeli raids forced the Egyptian army into the Gaza Strip, where it was surrounded
-Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza under international pressure and after the British threatened to intervene
-The Egyptian government announced that it was willing to enter armistice negotiations -
A truce was achieved
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Israel signed an armistice with Egypt
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Operation Uvda
-the Israelis reached Umm Rashrash and took it without a battle
-They raised a hand-made flag ("The Ink Flag") and claimed Umm Rashrash for Israel -
Israel signed an armistice with Lebanon
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Israel signed an armistice with Transjordan
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Israel signed an armistice with Syria