Chiến tranh Ả Rập-Israel lần thứ nhất
Lực lượng Quốc phòng Israel 
Huynh đệ Hồi giáo 
Fawzi al-17: uqji Cuộc chiến 1948 Ả Rập Israel hay Chiến tranh giành độc lập của Israel đã được chiến đấu giữa Nhà nước Israel và quân đội mới được tuyên bố Liên minh các quốc gia Ả Rập kiểm soát Palestine cũ của Anh, tạo thành giai đoạn thứ hai và cũng là cuối cùng của cuộc chiến tranh Palestine 1947. [ nghiên cứu ban đầu? ] Nó còn được gọi là Chiến tranh Israel đầu tiên của người Ả Rập .
Đã có căng thẳng và xung đột giữa người Ả Rập và người Do Thái, và giữa mỗi người trong số họ và các lực lượng Anh, kể từ Tuyên bố Balfour năm 1917 và Tuyên bố Palestine năm 1920 của Anh. Chính sách của Anh không hài lòng cả người Ả Rập và người Do Thái. Phe đối lập của người Ả Rập đã phát triển thành cuộc nổi dậy năm 1936 1919191939 ở Palestine, trong khi cuộc kháng chiến của người Do Thái phát triển thành cuộc nổi dậy của người Do Thái ở Palestine (1944 Phép1947). Năm 1947, những căng thẳng đang diễn ra đã nổ ra nội chiến, sau ngày 29 tháng 11 năm 1947 thông qua Kế hoạch phân vùng của Liên hợp quốc cho Palestine, dự định chia Palestine thành ba khu vực: một quốc gia Ả Rập, một quốc gia Do Thái và Chế độ quốc tế đặc biệt cho các thành phố Jerusalem và Bêlem.
Vào ngày 15 tháng 5 năm 1948, cuộc nội chiến đang diễn ra đã biến thành một cuộc xung đột giữa các quốc gia giữa Israel và các quốc gia Ả Rập, sau Tuyên ngôn Độc lập của Israel ngày hôm trước. Một cuộc xâm lược kết hợp giữa Ai Cập, Jordan và Syria, cùng với các lực lượng viễn chinh từ Iraq, đã tiến vào Palestine - Jordan đã tuyên bố riêng với các sứ giả của Yishuv vào ngày 2 tháng 5 rằng họ sẽ tuân thủ quyết định không tấn công nhà nước Do Thái. [13] nắm quyền kiểm soát các khu vực Ả Rập và tấn công ngay lập tức vào lực lượng Israel và một số khu định cư của người Do Thái. [14][15][16] 10 tháng chiến đấu, bị gián đoạn bởi một số thời kỳ đình chiến, diễn ra chủ yếu trên lãnh thổ của Đế quốc Anh và trong một thời gian ngắn Bán đảo Sinai và miền nam Lebanon. [17]
Do chiến tranh, Nhà nước Israel kiểm soát cả khu vực mà Nghị quyết Đại hội đồng Liên hợp quốc 181 đã đề nghị cho nhà nước Do Thái đề xuất cũng như gần 60% diện tích của quốc gia Ả Rập được đề xuất bởi Kế hoạch phân vùng năm 1948, [18] bao gồm khu vực Jaffa, Lydda và Ramle, Galilee, một số khu vực của Negev, một dải rộng dọc theo Tel Aviv đường bộ, Tây Jerusalem và một số vùng lãnh thổ ở Bờ Tây. Transjordan nắm quyền kiểm soát phần còn lại của nhiệm vụ cũ của Anh, nơi nó sáp nhập và quân đội Ai Cập nắm quyền kiểm soát Dải Gaza. Tại Hội nghị Giê-ri-cô vào ngày 1 tháng 12 năm 1948, 2.000 đại biểu Palestine kêu gọi thống nhất Palestine và Transjordan như một bước tiến tới sự thống nhất hoàn toàn của Ả Rập. [19] Không có nhà nước nào được tạo ra cho người Ả Rập Palestine.
Cuộc xung đột đã gây ra thay đổi nhân khẩu học đáng kể trên khắp Trung Đông. Khoảng 700.000 người Ả Rập Palestine đã chạy trốn hoặc bị trục xuất khỏi nhà của họ ở khu vực đã trở thành Israel và họ trở thành những người tị nạn Palestine [20] trong cái mà họ gọi là Al-Nakba ("thảm họa"). Trong ba năm sau chiến tranh, khoảng 700.000 người Do Thái đã di cư sang Israel, với nhiều người trong số họ đã bị trục xuất khỏi các quốc gia cư trú trước đây của họ ở Trung Đông. [21]
Bối cảnh
Sau Chiến tranh Thế giới II, các quốc gia Ả Rập xung quanh đang nổi lên từ sự cai trị bắt buộc. Transjordan, dưới thời cai trị Hashemite Abdullah I, giành được độc lập từ Anh năm 1946 và được gọi là Jordan vào năm 1949, nhưng nó vẫn chịu ảnh hưởng nặng nề của Anh. Ai Cập giành được độc lập danh nghĩa vào năm 1922, nhưng Anh tiếp tục gây ảnh hưởng mạnh mẽ đến đất nước này cho đến khi Hiệp ước Anh-Ai Cập năm 1936 hạn chế sự hiện diện của Anh đối với một đơn vị đồn trú trên Kênh Suez cho đến năm 1945. Lebanon trở thành một quốc gia độc lập vào năm 1943, nhưng quân đội Pháp sẽ không rút cho đến năm 1946, cùng năm đó Syria giành được độc lập từ Pháp.
Năm 1945, theo sự thúc giục của Anh, Ai Cập, Iraq, Lebanon, Ả Rập Saudi, Syria, Transjordan và Yemen đã thành lập Liên đoàn Ả Rập để phối hợp chính sách giữa các quốc gia Ả Rập. Iraq và Transjordan phối hợp chặt chẽ các chính sách, ký hiệp ước phòng thủ lẫn nhau, trong khi Ai Cập, Syria và Ả Rập Xê Út sợ rằng Transjordan sẽ sáp nhập một phần hoặc toàn bộ Palestine, và sử dụng nó như một bước đệm để tấn công hoặc phá hoại Syria, Lebanon và Hijaz. [22]
Vào ngày 29 tháng 11 năm 1947, Đại hội đồng Liên Hợp Quốc đã thông qua một nghị quyết khuyến nghị áp dụng và thực hiện kế hoạch phân chia Vương quốc Palestine của Anh thành hai quốc gia, một Ả Rập và một Do Thái, và Thành phố Jerusalem. [23]
Nghị quyết của Đại hội đồng về Phân vùng được chào đón với niềm vui tràn ngập trong cộng đồng Do Thái và sự phẫn nộ lan rộng trong thế giới Ả Rập. Ở Palestine, bạo lực nổ ra gần như ngay lập tức, ăn vào một vòng xoáy của sự trả thù và phản đòn. Người Anh đã kiềm chế không can thiệp khi căng thẳng bùng phát thành một cuộc xung đột cấp thấp đã nhanh chóng leo thang thành một cuộc nội chiến toàn diện. [24] [25] Từ tháng 1 trở đi, các hoạt động ngày càng được quân sự hóa Các trung đoàn quân giải phóng bên trong Palestine, từng hoạt động trong nhiều lĩnh vực riêng biệt xung quanh các thị trấn ven biển khác nhau. Họ củng cố sự hiện diện của họ ở Galilê và Samaria. [30] Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni đến từ Ai Cập với hàng trăm người của Quân đội Thánh chiến. Sau khi tuyển được vài nghìn tình nguyện viên, al-Husayni đã tổ chức phong tỏa 100.000 dân Do Thái ở Jerusalem. [31] Để chống lại điều này, chính quyền Yishuv đã cố gắng cung cấp cho thành phố những đoàn xe lên tới 100 xe bọc thép, nhưng hoạt động trở nên nhiều hơn và không thực tế hơn khi số thương vong trong các đoàn xe cứu trợ tăng lên. Đến tháng 3, chiến thuật của Al-Hussayni đã được đền đáp. Hầu như tất cả các xe bọc thép của Haganah đã bị phá hủy, phong tỏa đã hoạt động đầy đủ và hàng trăm thành viên của Haganah, những người đã cố gắng mang đồ tiếp tế vào thành phố đã bị giết. [32] Tình hình cho những người sống ở các khu định cư của người Do Thái ở vùng cao cô lập Negev và North of Galilee thậm chí còn nguy kịch hơn. Trong khi dân số Do Thái đã nhận được những mệnh lệnh nghiêm ngặt đòi hỏi họ phải giữ vững vị trí của mình ở mọi nơi bằng mọi giá, [33] dân số Ả Rập bị ảnh hưởng nhiều hơn bởi các điều kiện bất an chung mà đất nước phải đối mặt. Lên đến 100.000 người Ả Rập, từ tầng lớp thượng lưu và trung lưu thành thị ở Haifa, Jaffa và Jerusalem, hoặc các khu vực do người Do Thái thống trị, đã di tản ra nước ngoài hoặc đến các trung tâm Ả Rập về phía đông. [34] Các quốc gia rút lại sự ủng hộ cho kế hoạch Phân vùng, do đó khuyến khích Liên đoàn Ả Rập tin rằng Ả Rập Palestine, được củng cố bởi Quân đội Giải phóng Ả Rập, có thể chấm dứt kế hoạch phân chia. Người Anh, mặt khác, đã quyết định vào ngày 7 tháng 2 năm 1948, để hỗ trợ việc sáp nhập phần Ả Rập của Palestine bởi Transjordan. [35] Mặc dù một mức độ nghi ngờ nhất định đã xảy ra giữa những người ủng hộ Yishuv, nhưng thất bại rõ ràng của họ là do chính sách chờ đợi của họ hơn là do yếu kém. David Ben-Gurion tổ chức lại Haganah và bắt buộc phải bắt buộc. Mỗi người đàn ông và phụ nữ Do Thái trong nước phải được huấn luyện quân sự. Nhờ các khoản tiền do Golda Meir huy động từ các cảm tình viên ở Hoa Kỳ và quyết định của Stalin ủng hộ sự nghiệp của người Do Thái, các đại diện Do Thái ở Palestine đã có thể ký hợp đồng vũ khí rất quan trọng ở phương Đông. Các đặc vụ khác của Haganah đã thu hồi kho dự trữ từ Thế chiến thứ hai, giúp cải thiện thiết bị và hậu cần của quân đội. Chiến dịch Balak cho phép vận chuyển vũ khí và các thiết bị khác lần đầu tiên vào cuối tháng 3. Ben-Gurion đã đầu tư cho Yigael Yadin với trách nhiệm đưa ra một kế hoạch tấn công mà thời gian có liên quan đến việc sơ tán người Anh lực lượng. Chiến lược này, được gọi là Plan Dalet, đã được chuẩn bị vào tháng 3 và được thực hiện vào cuối tháng 4. [36] Một kế hoạch riêng, Chiến dịch Nachshon, đã được đưa ra để dỡ bỏ cuộc bao vây Jerusalem. [37] 1500 người từ Lữ đoàn Givati của Haganah và Harach Lữ đoàn đã tiến hành các cuộc tập trận để giải phóng tuyến đường đến thành phố trong khoảng thời gian từ ngày 5 đến 20 tháng Tư. Cả hai bên đã hành động tấn công bất chấp Kế hoạch phân vùng, dự đoán Jerusalem là một khu vực tách biệt, dưới quyền tài phán của người Do Thái và Ả Rập. Người Ả Rập đã không chấp nhận Kế hoạch, trong khi người Do Thái quyết tâm phản đối việc quốc tế hóa thành phố, và bảo đảm nó là một phần của nhà nước Do Thái. [38] Chiến dịch đã thành công và đủ lương thực trong hai tháng qua đã được chở vào Jerusalem để phân phối cho dân Do Thái. [39] Thành công của chiến dịch được hỗ trợ bởi cái chết của al-Husayni trong chiến đấu. Trong thời gian này, và độc lập với Haganah hoặc khuôn khổ của Plan Dalet, các chiến binh bất thường từ các đội hình của Irgun và Lehi đã tàn sát một số lượng đáng kể người Ả Rập tại Deir Yassin, một sự kiện, mặc dù bị chính quyền Do Thái chính thức đánh bại và chỉ trích tác động đến tinh thần của dân số Ả Rập và góp phần tạo ra cuộc di cư của dân số Ả Rập. Cùng lúc đó, chiến dịch quy mô lớn đầu tiên của Quân đội Giải phóng Ả Rập đã kết thúc trong một cuộc tranh cãi, đã bị đánh bại một cách tròn trịa tại Mishmar HaEmek, [40] trùng với sự mất mát của các đồng minh Druze của họ do đào tẩu. [41] Trong khuôn khổ thiết lập sự liên tục lãnh thổ của người Do Thái mà Plan Dalet dự đoán, các lực lượng của Haganah, Palmach và Irgun có ý định chinh phục các khu vực hỗn hợp. Xã hội Ả Rập Palestine đã bị lung lay. Tiberias, Haifa, Safed, Beisan, Jaffa và Acre đã ngã xuống, dẫn đến chuyến bay của hơn 250.000 người Ả Rập Palestine. [42] Người Anh lúc đó đã rút quân. Tình hình đã thúc đẩy các nhà lãnh đạo của các quốc gia Ả Rập láng giềng can thiệp, nhưng sự chuẩn bị của họ chưa được hoàn thiện, và họ không thể tập hợp đủ lực lượng để xoay chuyển cuộc chiến. Phần lớn các hy vọng Ả Rập của người Palestine nằm trong Quân đoàn Ả Rập của quốc vương Transjordan, Quốc vương Abdullah I, nhưng ông không có ý định thành lập một nhà nước Ả Rập do người Palestine điều hành, vì ông hy vọng sáp nhập phần lớn lãnh thổ của Vương quốc Anh cho Palestine như anh ta có thể. Anh ta đang chơi một trò chơi đôi, tiếp xúc nhiều với chính quyền Do Thái như với Liên đoàn Ả Rập. Để chuẩn bị cho cuộc tấn công, Haganah đã phát động thành công Chiến dịch Yiftah [43] và Ben-'Ami [44] để bảo đảm các khu định cư của người Do Thái ở Galilee và Chiến dịch Kilshon, tạo ra một mặt trận thống nhất quanh Jerusalem. Cuộc gặp gỡ không có hồi kết giữa Golda Meir và Abdullah I, sau đó là vụ thảm sát Kfar Etzion vào ngày 13 tháng 5 bởi Quân đoàn Ả Rập đã dẫn đến dự đoán rằng trận chiến với Jerusalem sẽ không thương tiếc. Vào ngày 14 tháng 5 năm 1948, David Ben-Gurion tuyên bố thành lập Nhà nước Israel và cuộc chiến tranh Palestine năm 1948 bước vào giai đoạn thứ hai với sự can thiệp của quân đội nhà nước Ả Rập và bắt đầu Chiến tranh Ả Rập Israel năm 1948. Đến tháng 9 năm 1947, Haganah có "10.489 súng trường, 702 súng máy hạng nhẹ, 2.666 súng tiểu liên, 186 súng máy hạng trung, 672 súng cối hai inch và 92 súng cối ba inch (76 mm)" [45] Năm 1946, Ben-Gurion quyết định rằng Yishuv có thể sẽ phải tự bảo vệ mình trước cả người Ả Rập Palestine và các quốc gia Ả Rập láng giềng và theo đó bắt đầu một "chiến dịch mua lại vũ khí bí mật ở phương Tây", và có được nhiều hơn trong vài tháng đầu của chiến sự. Yishuv đã xoay sở để trang bị vũ khí và thiết bị quân sự ở nước ngoài để chuyển đến Palestine sau khi phong tỏa của Anh được dỡ bỏ. Tại Hoa Kỳ, các đặc vụ Yishuv đã mua ba máy bay ném bom Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, một trong số đó đã ném bom Cairo vào tháng 7 năm 1948, một số máy bay vận tải Commandiss C-46 và hàng chục đường ray được sơn lại và được định nghĩa là "nông nghiệp Trang thiết bị". Ở Tây Âu, các đặc vụ của Haganah đã tích lũy năm mươi khẩu súng núi 65mm của Pháp, mười hai súng cối 120mm, mười xe tăng hạng nhẹ H-35 và một số lượng lớn các khẩu súng. Đến giữa tháng 5 hoặc sau đó, Yishuv đã mua từ máy bay chiến đấu 25 Avia S-199 của Tiệp Khắc (một phiên bản kém hơn của Messerschmitt Bf 109), 200 súng máy hạng nặng, 5.021 súng máy hạng nhẹ, 24.500 khẩu súng trường và 52 triệu viên đạn để trang bị cho tất cả các đơn vị, nhưng thiếu vũ khí hạng nặng. [46] Các nhiệm vụ buôn lậu vũ khí trên không từ Tiệp Khắc được đặt tên mã là Chiến dịch Balak. Các nhiệm vụ buôn lậu trên không được thực hiện bởi hầu hết các phi công người Mỹ - người Do Thái và người không Do Thái - do cựu lãnh đạo Hoa Kỳ lãnh đạo. Kỹ sư máy bay chỉ huy vận tải hàng không Al Schwimmer. Hoạt động của Schwimmer cũng bao gồm tuyển mộ và huấn luyện phi công chiến đấu cơ như Lou Lenart, chỉ huy cuộc không kích đầu tiên của Israel chống lại người Ả Rập. [47][48] Yishuv cũng có "sản xuất vũ khí tương đối tiên tiến công suất ", từ tháng 10 năm 1947 đến tháng 7 năm 1948" đã sản xuất 3 triệu viên đạn 9 mm, 150.000 quả lựu đạn Mill, 16.000 khẩu súng tiểu liên (súng Sten) và 210 súng cối ba inch (76 mm) ", [45] cùng với một số Súng cối "Davidka", được thiết kế và sản xuất bản địa. Họ đã không chính xác nhưng đã có một vụ nổ lớn ngoạn mục làm mất tinh thần của kẻ thù. Một lượng lớn đạn dược được người Israel sử dụng đến từ Viện Ayalon, một nhà máy sản xuất đạn bí mật bên dưới kibbutz Ayalon, nơi sản xuất khoảng 2,5 triệu viên đạn cho súng Sten. Các loại đạn do Viện Ayalon sản xuất được cho là nguồn cung duy nhất không bị thiếu trong chiến tranh. Thuốc nổ sản xuất tại địa phương cũng rất phong phú. Sau khi Israel độc lập, các hoạt động sản xuất vũ khí bí mật này không còn phải che giấu, và đã được di chuyển trên mặt đất. Tất cả việc chế tạo vũ khí của Haganah đã được tập trung hóa và sau đó trở thành ngành công nghiệp quân sự của Israel. [49] Vào tháng 11 năm 1947, Haganah là một lực lượng bán quân sự ngầm tồn tại như một lực lượng quốc gia có tổ chức cao, kể từ các cuộc bạo loạn của Ả Rập 1920 1920, và trong các cuộc bạo loạn năm 1929, Cuộc nổi dậy vĩ đại năm 1936, 39, [45] và Thế chiến 2. Nó có một lực lượng di động, HISH, có 2.000 máy bay chiến đấu toàn thời gian (nam và nữ) và 10.000 người dự bị (tất cả trong độ tuổi từ 18 đến 25) và một đơn vị tinh nhuệ, Palmach gồm 2.100 máy bay chiến đấu và 1.000 người đưa đón. Những người đưa tin đã đào tạo ba hoặc bốn ngày một tháng [ cần trích dẫn ] và quay trở lại cuộc sống dân sự trong thời gian còn lại. Các lực lượng di động này có thể dựa vào một lực lượng đồn trú, HIM ( Heil Mishmar lit. Guard Guard Corps), gồm những người trên 25. Tổng lực của Yishuv là khoảng 35.000 với 15.000 đến 18.000 máy bay chiến đấu và một đơn vị đồn trú lực lượng khoảng 20.000. [45] [50] Cũng có vài ngàn đàn ông và phụ nữ đã phục vụ trong Quân đội Anh trong Thế chiến II không phục vụ trong Quân đội Anh trong Thế chiến II. bất kỳ dân quân ngầm nào nhưng sẽ cung cấp kinh nghiệm quân sự quý giá trong chiến tranh. [51] Walid Khalidi nói rằng Yishuv có thêm lực lượng của Cảnh sát Giải quyết Do Thái, số lượng khoảng 12.000, Tiểu đoàn Gadna và những người định cư vũ trang. [52] Một vài trong số các đơn vị đã được đào tạo vào tháng 12 năm 1947. [45] Vào ngày 5 tháng 12 năm 1947, sự bắt buộc được thiết lập cho tất cả đàn ông và phụ nữ trong độ tuổi từ 17 đến 25 và đến cuối tháng 3, 21.000 đã được ghi nhận. [53] Vào ngày 30 tháng 3 , cuộc gọi được mở rộng cho nam giới và singl Phụ nữ ở độ tuổi từ 26 đến 35. Năm ngày sau đó, lệnh Huy động chung được ban hành cho tất cả đàn ông dưới 40 tuổi. [54] Irgun, có hoạt động được MI5 coi là khủng bố, đã bị người Anh theo dõi. [55] Đến tháng 3 năm 1948, Yishuv có ưu thế về số lượng, với 35.780 được huy động và triển khai máy bay chiến đấu cho Haganah, [56][57] 3.000 người Stern và Irgun. 19659154] Các lực lượng Ả Rập Số lượng chiến binh Ả Rập hiệu quả được liệt kê ở mức 12.000 bởi một số nhà sử học [59] trong khi những người khác tính tổng lực lượng Ả Rập xấp xỉ 23.500 quân, và với số lượng này ít hơn hoặc gần bằng với Yishuv . Tuy nhiên, khi Israel huy động hầu hết các công dân có khả năng nhất của mình trong chiến tranh trong khi quân đội Ả Rập chỉ chiếm một tỷ lệ nhỏ dân số lớn hơn nhiều, sức mạnh của Yishuv đã tăng lên đều đặn và đáng kể trong chiến tranh. [60] Theo Benny Morris, vào cuối năm 1947, người Palestine "có một sự tôn trọng lành mạnh và làm mất tinh thần đối với sức mạnh quân sự của Yishuv" và nếu chiến đấu với người Palestine dự kiến sẽ thua. Mục tiêu của Yishuv đã phát triển trong chiến tranh. [61] Việc huy động cho một cuộc chiến tổng lực đã được tổ chức. [62] Ban đầu, mục tiêu là "đơn giản và khiêm tốn": để tồn tại Ả Rập Palestine và các quốc gia Ả Rập. "Các nhà lãnh đạo Zion theo chủ nghĩa sâu sắc, thực sự, sợ một cuộc tái hiện Trung Đông của Holocaust, vừa kết thúc; những lời hùng biện công khai của người Ả Rập đã củng cố những nỗi sợ hãi này". Khi chiến tranh diễn ra, mục đích mở rộng nhà nước Do Thái ra khỏi biên giới phân vùng của Liên Hợp Quốc đã xuất hiện: đầu tiên là kết hợp các cụm định cư Do Thái bị cô lập và sau đó để thêm nhiều lãnh thổ cho nhà nước và đưa ra biên giới phòng thủ. Mục đích thứ ba và xa hơn xuất hiện trong số các nhà lãnh đạo chính trị và quân sự sau bốn hoặc năm tháng là "giảm quy mô của nhóm thiểu số Ả Rập và thù địch tương lai của Israel, được coi là một cột thứ năm đầy tiềm năng, bởi sự hiếu chiến và trục xuất". [61] Plan Dalet, hay Plan D, (tiếng Do Thái: ת TOUR תיכנ ת ', Tokhnit dalet) là một kế hoạch được thực hiện bởi Haganah, một nhóm bán quân sự Do Thái và tiền thân của Lực lượng phòng vệ Israel, mùa thu 1947 đến mùa xuân 1948, được gửi đến các đơn vị Haganah vào đầu tháng 3 năm 1948. Theo Ilan Pappé, mục đích của nó là chinh phục càng nhiều người Palestine và trục xuất càng nhiều người Palestine càng tốt, [63] mặc dù theo Benny Morris không có ý định như vậy. Trong cuốn sách Dọn dẹp dân tộc Palestine Pappé khẳng định rằng Kế hoạch Dalet là một "kế hoạch thanh lọc sắc tộc" với mục đích giảm cả khu vực nông thôn và thành thị của Palestine. [64] Theo Gelber, kế hoạch này quy định rằng trong trường hợp kháng chiến, dân số của những ngôi làng bị chinh phục sẽ bị trục xuất ra ngoài biên giới của nhà nước Do Thái. Nếu không gặp phải sự kháng cự nào, người dân có thể ở lại, dưới sự cai trị của quân đội. [65] Theo Morris, Kế hoạch D kêu gọi chiếm các khu vực trong quốc gia Do Thái do Liên Hợp Quốc bảo trợ, một số dân cư Do Thái bên ngoài các khu vực đó (Tây Jerusalem và phương Tây Galilee) và các khu vực dọc theo các con đường nơi quân đội Ả Rập xâm lược dự kiến sẽ tấn công. [66] Ý định của Plan Dalet đang bị tranh cãi nhiều, với các nhà sử học về một thái cực khẳng định rằng hoàn toàn phòng thủ, và các nhà sử học ở một thái cực khác khẳng định rằng kế hoạch nhằm chinh phục và trục xuất tối đa người Palestine. Yishuv nhận thấy sự nguy hiểm của một cuộc xâm lược Ả Rập là đe dọa chính sự tồn tại của nó. Không có kiến thức thực sự về khả năng quân sự thực sự của người Ả Rập, người Do Thái đã tuyên truyền theo nghĩa đen, chuẩn bị cho điều tồi tệ nhất và phản ứng theo đó. "[67] Liên đoàn Ả Rập đã nhất trí từ chối kế hoạch phân chia của Liên Hợp Quốc và đã cay đắng phản đối việc thành lập một nhà nước Do Thái. Liên đoàn Ả Rập trước khi phân vùng đã khẳng định quyền độc lập của Palestine, đồng thời ngăn chặn việc thành lập một chính phủ Palestine. [ cần làm rõ ] Đến cuối năm 1947, Liên minh thành lập một ủy ban quân sự do tướng Isma'il Safwat đã nghỉ hưu chỉ huy, có nhiệm vụ phân tích cơ hội chiến thắng của người Palestine chống lại người Do Thái. [68] Kết luận của ông là họ không có cơ hội chiến thắng và cuộc xâm lược của người Ả Rập Quân đội chính quy là bắt buộc. [68] Tuy nhiên, ủy ban chính trị đã bác bỏ những kết luận này và quyết định ủng hộ một phe đối lập có vũ trang đối với Kế hoạch phân vùng, ngoại trừ sự tham gia của các lực lượng vũ trang chính quy của họ. [69] Vào tháng 4 với the Palestinian defeat, the refugees coming from Palestine and the pressure of their public opinion, the Arab leaders decided to invade Palestine.[70] The Arab League gave reasons for its invasion in Palestine in the cablegram:[71] British diplomat Alec Kirkbride wrote in his 1976 memoirs about a conversation with the Arab League's Secretary-General Azzam Pasha a week before the armies marched: "...when I asked him for his estimate of the size of the Jewish forces, [he] waved his hands and said: 'It does not matter how many there are. We will sweep them into the sea.'"[72] Approximately six months previously, according to an interview in an 11 October 1947 article of Akhbar al-YomAzzam said: "I personally wish that the Jews do not drive us to this war, as this will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades".[undue weight? ][73] According to Yoav Gelber, the Arab countries were "drawn into the war by the collapse of the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab Liberation Army [and] the Arab governments' primary goal was preventing the Palestinian Arabs' total ruin and the flooding of their own countries by more refugees. According to their own perception, had the invasion not taken place, there was no Arab force in Palestine capable of checking the Haganah's offensive".[67] King Abdullah was the commander of the Arab Legion, the strongest Arab army involved in the war according to Rogan and Shlaim in 2007.[74] However, Morris wrote in 2008 that the Egyptian army was the most powerful and threatening army.[75] The Arab Legion had about 10,000 soldiers, trained and commanded by British officers. In 1946–47, Abdullah said that he had no intention to "resist or impede the partition of Palestine and creation of a Jewish state."[76] Ideally, Abdullah would have liked to annex all of Palestine, but he was prepared to compromise.[77][78] He supported the partition, intending that the West Bank area of the British Mandate allocated for the Arab state be annexed to Jordan.[79] Abdullah had secret meetings with the Jewish Agency (at which the future Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was among the delegates) that reached an agreement of Jewish non-interference with Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (although Abdullah failed in his goal of acquiring an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea through the Negev desert) and of Jordanian agreement not to attack the area of the Jewish state contained in the United Nations partition resolution (in which Jerusalem was given neither to the Arab nor the Jewish state, but was to be an internationally administered area). In order to keep their support to his plan of annexation of the Arab State, Abdullah promised to the British he would not attack the Jewish State.[80] The neighbouring Arab states pressured Abdullah into joining them in an "all-Arab military invasion" against the newly created State of Israel, that he used to restore his prestige in the Arab world, which had grown suspicious of his relatively good relationship with Western and Jewish leaders.[76] Jordan's undertakings not to cross partition lines were not taken at face value. While repeating assurances that Jordan would only take areas allocated to a future Arab State, on the eve of war Tawfik Abu al-Huda told the British that were other Arab armies to advance against Israel, Jordan would follow suit.[81] On 23 May Abdullah told the French consul in Amman that he "was determined to fight Zionism and prevent the establishment of an Israeli state on the border of his kingdom".[82] Abdullah's role in this war became substantial. He saw himself as the "supreme commander of the Arab forces" and "persuaded the Arab League to appoint him" to this position.[83] Through his leadership, the Arabs fought the 1948 war to meet Abdullah's political goals. King Farouk of Egypt was anxious to prevent Abdullah from being seen as the main champion of the Arab world in Palestine, which he feared might damage his own leadership aspirations of the Arab world.[77] In addition, Farouk wished to annex all of southern Palestine to Egypt.[77] According to Gamal Abdel Nasser the Egyptian army first communique described the Palestine operations as a merely punitive expedition against the Zionist "gangs",[84] using a term frequent in Haganah reports of Palestinian fighters.[85] Nuri as-Said, the strongman of Iraq, had ambitions for bringing the entire Fertile Crescent under Iraqi leadership.[77] Both Syria and Lebanon wished to take certain areas of northern Palestine.[77] One result of the ambitions of the various Arab leaders was a distrust of all the Palestinian leaders who wished to set up a Palestinian state, and a mutual distrust of each other.[77] Co-operation was to be very poor during the war between the various Palestinian factions and the Arab armies.[77] Following rumours that King Abdullah was re-opening the bilateral negotiations with Israel that he had previously conducted in secret with the Jewish Agency, the Arab League, led by Egypt, decided to set up the All-Palestine Government in Gaza on 8 September under the nominal leadership of the Mufti.[86] Abdullah regarded the attempt to revive al-Husayni's Holy War Army as a challenge to his authority and all armed bodies operating in the areas controlled by the Arab Legion were disbanded. Glubb Pasha carried out the order ruthlessly and efficiently.[87][88] Though the state of Israel faced the formidable armies of neighboring Arab countries, yet due to previous battles by the middle of May the Palestinians themselves hardly existed as a military force.[89] The British Intelligence and Arab League military reached similar conclusions.[90] The British Foreign Ministry and C.I.A believed that the Arab States would finally win in case of war.[91][92] Martin Van Creveld says that in terms of manpower, the sides were fairly evenly matched.[93] In May, Egyptian generals told their government that the invasion will be "A parade without any risks" and Tel Aviv "in two weeks".[94] Egypt, Iraq, and Syria all possessed air forces, Egypt and Syria had tanks, and all had some modern artillery.[95] Initially, the Haganah had no heavy machine guns, artillery, armoured vehicles, anti-tank or anti-aircraft weapons,[51] nor military aircraft or tanks.[45] The four Arab armies that invaded on 15 May were far stronger than the Haganah formations they initially encountered.[96] On 12 May, three days before the invasion, David Ben-Gurion was told by his chief military advisers (who over-estimated the size of the Arab armies and the numbers and efficiency of the troops who would be committed – much as the Arab generals tended to exaggerate Jewish fighters' strength) that Israel's chances of winning a war against the Arab states were only about even.[95] Jewish forces at the invasion: Sources disagree about the amount of arms at the Yishuv's disposal at the end of the Mandate. According to Karsh before the arrival of arms shipments from Czechoslovakia as part of Operation Balak, there was roughly one weapon for every three fighters, and even the Palmach could arm only two out of every three of its active members.[51] According to Collins and LaPierre, by April 1948, the Haganah had managed to accumulate only about 20,000 rifles and Sten guns for the 35,000 soldiers who existed on paper.[97] According to Walid Khalidi "the arms at the disposal of these forces were plentiful".[52]France authorized Air France to transport cargo to Tel Aviv on 13 May.[98] Yishuv forces were organised in 9 brigades, and their numbers grew following Israeli independence, eventually expanding to 12 brigades. Although both sides increased their manpower over the first few months of the war, the Israeli forces grew steadily as a result of the progressive mobilization of Israeli society and the influx of an average of 10,300 immigrants each month.[99] By the end of 1948, the Israel Defense Forces had 88,033 soldiers, including 60,000 combat soldiers.[100] After the invasion: France allowed aircraft carrying arms from Czechoslovakia to land on French territory in transit to Israel, and permitted two arms shipments to ‘Nicaragua’, which were actually intended for Israel.[98] Czechoslovakia supplied vast quantities of arms to Israel during the war, including thousands of vz. 24 rifles and MG 34 and ZB 37 machine guns, and millions of rounds of ammunition. Czechoslovakia supplied fighter aircraft, including at first ten Avia S-199 fighter planes. The Haganah readied twelve cargo ships throughout European ports to transfer the accumulated equipment, which would set sail as soon as the British blockade was lifted with the expiration of the Mandate.[103][104] Following Israeli independence, the Israelis managed to build three Sherman tanks from scrap-heap material found in abandoned British ordnance depots.[105] The Haganah also managed to obtain stocks of British weapons due to the logistical complexity of the British withdrawal, and the corruption of a number of officials.[106] After the first truce: By July 1948, the Israelis had established an air force, a navy, and a tank battalion.[104] On June 29, 1948, the day before the last British troops left Haifa, two British soldiers sympathetic to the Israelis stole two Cromwell tanks from an arms depot in the Haifa port area, smashing them through the unguarded gates, and joined the IDF with the tanks. These two tanks would form the basis of the Israeli Armored Corps.[107] After the second truce: Czechoslovakia supplied Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes, which were smuggled to Israel via an abandoned Luftwaffe runway in Yugoslavia, with the agreement of the Yugoslav government.[citation needed] The airborne arms smuggling missions from Czechoslovakia were codenamed Operation Balak. At the invasion: In addition to the local irregular Palestinians militia groups, the five Arab states that joined the war were Egypt, Jordan (Transjordan), Syria, Lebanon and Iraq sending expeditionary forces of their regular armies. Additional contingents came from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. On the eve of the war, the available number of Arab troops likely to be committed to war was between 23,500 and 26,500 (10,000 Egyptians, 4,500 Jordanians, 3,000 Iraqis, 3,000–6,000 Syrians, 2,000 ALA volunteers, 1,000 Lebanese, and several hundred Saudis), in addition to the irregular Palestinians already present. Prior to the war, Arab forces had been trained by British and French instructors. This was particularly true of Jordan's Arab Legion under command of Lt Gen Sir John Glubb. Syria bought a quantity of small arms for the Arab Liberation Army from Czechoslovakia, but the shipment never arrived due to Haganah force intervention.[108] Jordan's Arab Legion was considered the most effective Arab force. Armed, trained and commanded by British officers, this 8,000–12,000 strong force was organised in four infantry/mechanised regiments supported by some 40 artillery pieces and 75 armoured cars.[109] Until January 1948, it was reinforced by the 3,000-strong Transjordan Frontier Force.[110] As many as 48 British officers served in the Arab Legion.[111]Glubb Pasha, the commander of the Legion, organized his forces into four brigades as follows: The Arab Legion joined the war in May 1948, but fought only in the area that King Abdullah wanted to secure for Jordan: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. France prevented a large sale of arms by a Swiss company to Ethiopia, brokered by the U.K foreign office, which was actually destined for Egypt and Jordan, denied a British request at the end of April to permit the landing of a squadron of British aircraft on their way to Transjordan, and applied diplomatic pressure on Belgium to suspend arms sales to the Arab states.[98] The Jordanian forces were probably the best trained of all combatants. Other combatant forces lacked the ability to make strategic decisions and tactical maneuvers, as evidenced by positioning the fourth regiment at Latrun, which was abandoned by ALA combatants before the arrival of the Jordanian forces and the importance of which was not fully understood by the Haganah general-staff. In the later stages of the war, Latrun proved to be of extreme importance, and a decisive factor in Jerusalem's fate. In 1948, Iraq's army had 21,000 men in 12 brigades and the Iraqi Air Force had 100 planes, mostly British. Initially the Iraqis committed around 3,000 men[115] to the war effort, including four infantry brigades, one armoured battalion and support personnel. These forces were to operate under Jordanian guidance[116] The first Iraqi forces to be deployed reached Jordan in April 1948 under the command of Gen. Nur ad-Din Mahmud.[117] In 1948, Egypt's army was able to put a maximum of around 40,000 men into the field, 80% of its military-age male population being unfit for military service and its embryonic logistics system being limited in its ability to support ground forces deployed beyond its borders.[citation needed] Initially, an expeditionary force of 10,000 men was sent to Palestine under the command of Maj. Gen. Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi. This force consisted of five infantry battalions, one armoured battalion equipped with British Light Tank Mk VI and Matilda tanks, one battalion of sixteen 25-pounder guns, a battalion of eight 6-pounder guns and one medium-machine-gun battalion with supporting troops.[citation needed] The Egyptian Air Force had over 30 Spitfires, 4 Hawker Hurricanes and 20 C47s modified into crude bombers.[citation needed] Syria had 12,000 soldiers at the beginning of the 1948 War, grouped into three infantry brigades and an armoured force of approximately battalion size. The Syrian Air Force had fifty planes, the 10 newest of which were World War II–generation models. France suspended arms sales to Syria, notwithstanding signed contracts.[98] Lebanon's army was the smallest of the Arab armies, consisting of only 3,500 soldiers.[110] According to Gelber, in June 1947, Ben-Gurion "arrived at an agreement with the Maronite religious leadership in Lebanon that cost a few thousand pounds and kept Lebanon's army out of the War of Independence and the military Arab coalition."[118] According to Rogan and Shlaim, a token force of 1,000 was committed to the invasion. It crossed into the northern Galilee and was repulsed by Israeli forces. Israel then invaded and occupied southern Lebanon until the end of the war.[119] Arab forces after the first truce: By the time of the second truce, the Egyptians had 20,000 men in the field in thirteen battalions equipped with 135 tanks and 90 artillery pieces.[120] During the first truce, the Iraqis increased their force to about 10,000.[121] Ultimately, the Iraqi expeditionary force numbered around 18,000 men.[122][123] Saudi Arabia sent hundreds of volunteers to join the Arab forces. In February 1948, around 800 tribesmen had gathered near Aqaba so as to invade the Negev, but crossed to Egypt after Saudi rival King Abdallah officially denied them permission to pass through Jordanian territory.[124] The Saudi troops were attached to the Egyptian command throughout the war,[125] and estimates of their total strength ranged up to 1,200.[126][127] By July 1948, the Saudis comprised three brigades within the Egyptian expeditionary force, and were stationed as guards between Gaza city and Rafah.[128] This area came under heavy aerial bombardment during Operation Yoav in October,[129] and faced a land assault beginning in late December which culminated in the Battle of Rafah in early January of the new year. With the subsequent armistice of 24 February 1949 and evacuation of almost 4,000 Arab soldiers and civilians from Gaza, the Saudi contingent withdrew through Arish and returned to Saudi Arabia.[130] During the first truce, Sudan sent six companies of regular troops to fight alongside the Egyptians.[131]Yemen also committed a small expeditionary force to the war effort, and contingents from Morocco joined the Arab armies as well.[4] At the last moment, several Arab leaders, to avert catastrophe – secretly appealed to the British to hold on in Palestine for at least another year.[132] On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel to be known as the State of Israel, a few hours before the termination of the Mandate.[133] At midnight on 15 May 1948, the British Mandate was officially terminated, and the State of Israel came into being. Several hours later, Iraq and the neighboring Arab states, Egypt, Jordan (Transjordan) and Syria, invaded the newborn state,[134][135] and immediately attacked Jewish settlements.[15] What was now Israel had already, from 1 April down to 14 May, conducted 8 of its 13 full-scale military operations outside of the area allotted to a Jewish state by partition, and the operational commander Yigal Allon later stated that had it not been for the Arab invasion, Haganah's forces would have reached 'the natural borders of western Israel.'[136] Although the Arab invasion was denounced by the United States, the Soviet Union, and UN secretary-general Trygve Lie, it found support from the Republic of China and other UN member states.[137] The initial Arab plans called for Syrian and Lebanese forces to invade from north while Jordanian and Iraqi forces were to invade from east in order to meet at Nazareth and then to push forward together to Haifa. In the south, the Egyptians were to advance and take Tel Aviv.[138] At the Arab League meeting in Damascus on 11–13 May, Abdullah rejected the plan, which served Syrian interests, using the fact his allies were afraid to go to war without his army. He proposed that the Iraqis attack the Jezreel valley and the Arab Legion enter Ramallah and Nablus and link with the Egyptian army at Hebron,[138] which was more in compliance with his political objective to occupy the territory allocated to the Arab State by the partition plan and promises not to invade the territory allocated to the Jewish State by the partition plan. In addition, Lebanon decided not to take part in the war at the last minute, due to the still-influential Christians' opposition and due to Jewish bribes.[70] Intelligence provided by the French consulate in Jerusalem on 12 May 1948 on the Arab armies' invading forces and their revised plan to invade the new state contributed to Israel's success in withstanding the Arab invasion.[139] The first mission of the Jewish forces was to hold on against the Arab armies and stop them, although the Arabs had enjoyed major advantages (the initiative, vastly superior firepower).[140] As the British stopped blocking the incoming Jewish immigrants and arms supply, the Israeli forces grew steadily with large numbers of immigrants and weapons, that allowed the Haganah to transform itself from a paramilitary force into a real army. Initially, the fighting was handled mainly by the Haganah, along with the smaller Jewish militant groups Irgun and Lehi. On 26 May 1948, Israel established the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), incorporating these forces into one military under a central command. The Egyptian force, the largest among the Arab armies, invaded from the south. On 15 May 1948, the Egyptians attacked two settlements: Nirim, using artillery, armoured cars carrying cannons, and Bren carriers;[15] and Kfar Darom[15] using artillery, tanks and aircraft. The Egyptians attacks met fierce resistance from the few and lightly armed defenders of both settlements, and failed. On 19 May the Egyptians attacked Yad Mordechai, where an inferior force of 100 Israelis armed with nothing more than rifles, a medium machinegun and a PIAT anti-tank weapon, held up a column of 2,500 Egyptians, well-supported by armor, artillery and air units, for five days.[141] The Egyptians took heavy losses, while the losses sustained by the defenders were comparatively light.[142] One of the Egyptian force's two main columns made its way northwards along the shoreline, through what is today the Gaza Strip and the other column advanced eastwards toward Beersheba.[142][143] To secure their flanks, the Egyptians attacked and laid siege to a number of kibbutzim in the Negev, among those Kfar Darom, Nirim, Yad Mordechai, and Negba.[142][144] The Israeli defenders held out fiercely for days against vastly superior forces, and managed to buy valuable time for the IDF's Givati Brigade to prepare to stop the Egyptian drive on Tel Aviv. On 28 May the Egyptians renewed their northern advance, and stopped at a destroyed bridge north to Isdud. The Givati Brigade reported this advance but no fighters were sent to confront the Egyptians. Had the Egyptians wished to continue their advance northward, towards Tel Aviv, there would have been no Israeli force to block them.[145][146] From 29 May to 3 June, Israeli forces stopped the Egyptian drive north in Operation Pleshet. In the first combat mission performed by Israel's fledgling air force, four Avia S-199s attacked an Egyptian armored column of 500 vehicles on its way to Isdud. The Israeli planes dropped 70 kilogram bombs and strafed the column, although their machine guns jammed quickly. Two of the planes crashed, killing a pilot. The attack caused the Egyptians to scatter, and they had lost the initiative by the time they had regrouped. Following the air attack, Israeli forces constantly bombarded Egyptian forces in Isdud with Napoleonchik cannons, and IDF patrols engaged in small-scale harassment of Egyptian lines. Following another air attack, the Givati Brigade launched a counterattack. Although the counterattack was repulsed, the Egyptian offensive was halted as Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, and the initiative shifted to Israel.[147] On 6 June, in the Battle of Nitzanim, Egyptian forces attacked the kibbutz of Nitzanim, located between Majdal (now Ashkelon) and Isdud, and the Israeli defenders surrendered after resisting for five days. The heaviest fighting occurred in Jerusalem and on the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv road, between Jordan's Arab Legion and Israeli forces.[148] As part of the redeployment to deal with the Egyptian advance, the Israelis abandoned the Latrun fortress overlooking the main highway to Jerusalem, which the Arab Legion immediately seized.[149] The Arab Legion also occupied the Latrun Monastery. From these positions, the Jordanians were able to cut off supplies to Israeli fighters and civilians in Jerusalem.[150] The Israelis attempted to take the Latrun fortress in a series of battles lasting from 24 May to 18 July. The Arab Legion held Latrun and managed to repulse the attacks.[150] During the attempts to take Latrun, Israeli forces suffered some 586 casualties, among them Mickey Marcus, Israel's first general, who was killed by friendly fire. The Arab Legion also took losses, losing 90 dead and some 200 wounded up to 29 May.[151] A bulldozer tows a truck on the "Burma road", June 1948 Area map The besieged Israeli Jerusalem was only saved via the opening of the so-called "Burma Road", a makeshift bypass road built by Israeli forces that allowed Israeli supply convoys to pass into Jerusalem.[150] Parts of the area where the road was built were cleared of Jordanian snipers in May and the road was completed on 14 June. Supplies had already begun passing through before the road was completed, with the first convoy passing through on the night of 1–2 June. The Jordanians spotted the activity and attempted to shell the road, but were ineffective, as it could not be seen. However, Jordanian sharpshooters killed several road workers, and an attack on 9 June left eight Israelis dead. On 18 July, elements of the Harel Brigade took about 10 villages to the south of Latrun to enlarge and secure the area of the Burma Road. The Arab Legion was able to repel an Israeli attack on Latrun. The Jordanians launched two counterattacks, temporarily taking Beit Susin before being forced back, and capturing Gezer after a fierce battle, which was retaken by two Palmach squads the same evening.[152] Jordanian artillery shelling Jerusalem in 1948 The Jordanians in Latrun cut off supplies to western Jerusalem.[150] Though some supplies, mostly munitions, were airdropped into the city, the shortage of food, water, fuel and medicine was acute. The Israeli forces were seriously short of food, water and ammunition.[150] King Abdullah ordered Glubb Pasha, the commander of the Arab Legion, to enter Jerusalem on 17 May. The Arab Legion fired 10,000 artillery and mortar shells a day,[150] and also attacked West Jerusalem with sniper fire. Heavy house-to-house fighting occurred between 19 and 28 May, with the Arab Legion eventually succeeding in pushing Israeli forces from the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem as well as the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.[150] The 1,500 Jewish inhabitants of the Old City's Jewish Quarter were expelled, and several hundred were detained. The Jews had to be escorted out by the Arab Legion to protect them against Palestinian Arab mobs that intended to massacre them.[154] On 22 May, Arab forces attacked kibbutz Ramat Rachel south of Jerusalem. After a fierce battle in which 31 Jordanians and 13 Israelis were killed, the defenders of Ramat Rachel withdrew, only to partially retake the kibbutz the following day. Fighting continued until 26 May, until the entire kibbutz was recaptured. Radar Hill was also taken from the Arab Legion, and held until 26 May, when the Jordanians retook it in a battle that left 19 Israelis and 2 Jordanians dead. A total of 23 attempts by the Harel Brigade to capture Radar Hill in the war failed. The same day, Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General in Jerusalem and a member of the UN Truce Commission was shot dead in West Jerusalem. It was disputed whether Wasson was killed by the Arabs or Israelis. In mid to late October 1948, the Harel Brigade began its offensive in what was known as Operation Ha-Har, to secure the Jerusalem Corridor. An Iraqi force consisting of two infantry and one armoured brigade crossed the Jordan River from northern Jordan, attacking the Israeli settlement of Gesher with little success.[15] Following this defeat, Iraqi forces moved into the strategic triangle bounded by the Arab towns Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm. On 25 May, they were making their way towards Netanya, when they were stopped.[155] On 29 May, an Israeli attack against the Iraqis led to three days of heavy fighting over Jenin, but Iraqi forces managed to hold their positions.[155] After these battles, the Iraqi forces became stationary and their involvement in the war effectively ended.[117][155] Iraqi forces failed in their attacks on Israeli settlements with the most notable battle taking place at Gesher, and instead took defensive positions around Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm, from where they could put pressure on the Israeli center.[citation needed][156] On 25 May, Iraqi forces advanced from Tulkarm, taking Geulim and reaching Kfar Yona and Ein Vered on the Tulkarm-Netanya road. The Alexandroni Brigade then stopped the Iraqi advance and retook Geulim. On 1 June, the Carmeli and Golani Brigades captured Jenin from Iraqi forces. They were pushed out by an Iraqi counterattack, and lost 34 dead and 100 wounded. On 14 May Syria invaded Palestine with the 1st Infantry Brigade supported by a battalion of armoured cars, a company of French R 35 and R 37 tanks, an artillery battalion and other units.[157] The Syrian president, Shukri al-Quwwatli instructed his troops in the front, "to destroy the Zionists". "The situation was very grave. There aren’t enough rifles. There are no heavy weapons," Ben-Gurion told the Israeli Cabinet.[158][159] On 15 May, the Syrian forces turned to the eastern and southern Sea of Galilee shores, and attacked Samakh the neighboring Tegart fort and the settlements of Sha'ar HaGolan, Ein Gev, but they were bogged down by resistance.[15] Later, they attacked Samakh using tanks and aircraft, and on 18 May they succeeded in conquering Samakh[157] and occupied the abandoned Sha'ar HaGolan.[15] On 21 May, the Syrian army was stopped at kibbutz Degania Alef in the north, where local militia reinforced by elements of the Carmeli Brigade halted Syrian armored forces with Molotov cocktails, hand grenades and a single PIAT. One tank that was disabled by Molotov cocktails and hand grenades still remains at the kibbutz. The remaining Syrian forces were driven off the next day by four Napoleonchik mountain guns – Israel's first use of artillery during the war.[160] Following the Syrian forces' defeat at the Deganias a few days later, they abandoned the Samakh village.[157] The Syrians were forced to besiege the kibbutz rather than advance.[155] One author claims that the main reason for the Syrian defeat was the Syrian soldiers' low regard for the Israelis who they believed would not stand and fight against the Arab army.[159] On 6 June, nearly two brigades of the Arab Liberation Army and the Lebanese Army took Al-Malkiyya and Qadas in what became the only intervention of the Lebanese army during the war.[155] On 6 June, Syrian forces attacked Mishmar HaYarden, but they were repulsed. On 10 June, the Syrians overran Mishmar HaYarden and advanced to the main road, where they were stopped by units of the Oded Brigade.[161] Subsequently, the Syrians reverted to a defensive posture, conducting only a few minor attacks on small, exposed Israeli settlements.[157] In the continuity of the civil war between Jewish and Arab forces that had begun in 1947, battles between Israeli forces and Palestinian Arab militias took place, particularly in the Lydda, al-Ramla, Jerusalem, and Haifa areas. On 23 May, the Alexandroni Brigade captured Tantura, south of Haifa, from Arab forces. On 2 June, Holy War Army commander Hasan Salama was killed in a battle with Haganah at Ras al-Ein. All Jewish aviation assets were placed under the control of the Sherut Avir (Air Service, known as the SA) in November 1947 and flying operations began in the following month from a small civil airport on the outskirts of Tel Aviv called Sde Dov, with the first ground support operation (in an RWD-13)[162] taking place on 17 December. The Galilee Squadron was formed at Yavne'el in March 1948, and the Negev Squadron was formed at Nir-Am in April. By 10 May, when the SA suffered its first combat loss, there were three flying units, an air staff, maintenance facilities and logistics support. At the outbreak of the war on 15 May, the SA became the Israeli Air Force. With its fleet[163] of light planes it was no match for Arab forces during the first few weeks of the war with their T-6s, Spitfires, C-47s, and Avro Ansons. On 15 May, with the beginning of the war, four Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) Spitfires attacked Tel Aviv, bombing Sde Dov Airfield, where the bulk of Sherut Avir's aircraft were concentrated, as well as the Reading Power Station. Several aircraft were destroyed, some others were damaged, and five Israelis were killed. Throughout the following hours, additional waves of Egyptian aircraft bombed and strafed targets around Tel Aviv, although these raids had little effect. One Spitfire was shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and its pilot was taken prisoner. Throughout the next six days, the REAF would continue to attack Tel Aviv, causing civilian casualties. On 18 May, Egyptian warplanes attacked the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station, killing 42 people and wounding 100. In addition to their attacks on Tel Aviv, the Egyptians also bombed rural settlements and airfields, though few casualties were caused in these raids.[164] At the outset of the war, the REAF was able to attack Israel with near impunity, due to the lack of Israeli fighter aircraft to intercept them,[165] and met only ground fire. As more effective air defenses were transferred to Tel Aviv, the Egyptians began taking significant aircraft losses. As a result of these losses, as well as the loss of five Spitfires downed by the British when the Egyptians mistakenly attacked RAF Ramat David, the Egyptian air attacks became less frequent. By the end of May 1948, almost the entire REAF Spitfire squadron based in El Arish had been lost, including many of its best pilots. Although lacking fighter or bomber aircraft, in the first few days of the war, Israel's embryonic air force still attacked Arab targets, with light aircraft being utilized as makeshift bombers, striking Arab encampments and columns. The raids were mostly carried out at night to avoid interception by Arab fighter aircraft. These attacks usually had little effect, except on morale. The balance of air power soon began to swing in favor of the Israeli Air Force following the arrival of 25 Avia S-199s from Czechoslovakia, the first of which arrived in Israel on 20 May. Ironically, Israel was using the Avia S-199, an inferior derivative of the Bf 109 designed in Nazi Germany to counter British-designed Spitfires flown by Egypt. Throughout the rest of the war, Israel would acquire more Avia fighters, as well as 62 Spitfires from Czechoslovakia. On 28 May 1948, Sherut Avir became the Israeli Air Force. Many of the pilots who fought for the Israeli Air Force were foreign volunteers or mercenaries, including many World War II veterans. On 3 June, Israel scored its first victory in aerial combat when Israeli pilot Modi Alon shot down a pair of Egyptian DC-3s that had just bombed Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv would see additional raids by fighter aircraft, there would be no more raids by bombers for the rest of the war. From then on, the Israeli Air Force began engaging the Arab air forces in air-to-air combat. The first dogfight took place on 8 June, when an Israeli fighter plane flown by Gideon Lichtman shot down an Egyptian Spitfire. By the fall of 1948, the IAF had achieved air superiority and had superior firepower and more knowledgeable personnel, many of whom had seen action in World War II.[166] Israeli planes then began intercepting and engaging Arab aircraft on bombing missions. Following Israeli air attacks on Egyptian and Iraqi columns, the Egyptians repeatedly bombed Ekron Airfield, where IAF fighters were based. During a 30 May raid, bombs aimed for Ekron hit central Rehovot, killing 7 civilians and wounding 30. In response to this, and probably to the Jordanian victories at Latrun, Israel began bombing targets in Arab cities. On the night of 31 May/1 June, the first Israeli raid on an Arab capital took place when three IAF planes flew to Amman and dropped several dozen 55 and 110-pound bombs, hitting the King's Palace and an adjacent British airfield. Some 12 people were killed and 30 wounded. During the attack, an RAF hangar was damaged, as were some British aircraft. The British threatened that in the event of another such attack, they would shoot down the attacking aircraft and bomb Israeli airfields, and as a result, Israeli aircraft did not attack Amman again for the rest of the war. Israel also bombed Arish, Gaza, Damascus, and Cairo. Israeli Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers coming to Israel from Czechoslovakia bombed Egypt on their way to Israel.[167][168] According to Alan Dershowitz, Israeli planes focused on bombing military targets in these attacks, though Benny Morris wrote that an 11 June air raid on Damascus was indiscriminate. At the outset of the war, the Israeli Navy consisted of three former Aliyah Bet ships that had been seized by the British and impounded in Haifa harbor, where they were tied up at the breakwater. Work on establishing a navy had begun shortly before Israeli independence, and the three ships were selected due to them having a military background – one, the INS Eilatwas an ex-US Coast Guard icebreaker, and the other two, the INS Haganah and INS Wedgwoodhad been Royal Canadian Navy corvettes. The ships were put into minimum running condition by contractors dressed as stevedores and port personnel, who were able to work in the engine rooms and below deck. The work had to be clandestine to avoid arousing British suspicion. On 21 May 1948, the three ships set sail for Tel Aviv, and were made to look like ships that had been purchased by foreign owners for commercial use. In Tel Aviv, the ships were fitted with small field guns dating to the late 19th century and anti-aircraft guns. After the British left Haifa port on 30 June, Haifa became the main base of the Israeli Navy. In October 1948, a submarine chaser was purchased from the United States. The warships were manned by former merchant seamen, former crewmembers of Aliyah Bet ships, Israelis who had served in the Royal Navy during World War II, and foreign volunteers. The newly refurbished and crewed warships served on coastal patrol duties and bombarded Egyptian coastal installations in and around the Gaza area all the way to Port Said.[169][170] Throughout the following days, the Arabs were only able to make limited gains due to fierce Israeli resistance, and were quickly driven off their new holdings by Israeli counterattacks. As the war progressed, the IDF managed to field more troops than the Arab forces. In July 1948, the IDF had 63,000 troops; by early spring 1949, they had 115,000. The Arab armies had an estimated 40,000 troops in July 1948, rising to 55,000 in October 1948, and slightly more by the spring of 1949. Upon the implementation of the truce, the IDF had control over nine Arab cities and towns or mixed cities and towns: New Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Safed, Tiberias, Baysan (Beit She'an), Samakh and Yibna (Yavne). Another city, Jenin, was not occupied but its residents fled. The combined Arab forces captured 14 Jewish settlement points, but only one of them, Mishmar HaYarden, was in the territory of the proposed Jewish State according to Resolution 181. Within the boundaries of the proposed Jewish state, there were twelve Arab villages which opposed Jewish control or were captured by the invading Arab armies, and in addition to them, the Lod Airport and pumping station near Antipatris, which were within the boundaries of the proposed Jewish state, were under the control of the Arabs. The IDF captured about 50 large Arab villages outside of the boundaries of the proposed Jewish State and a larger number of hamlets and Bedouin encampments. 350 square kilometers of the proposed Jewish State were under the control of the Arab forces, while 700 square kilometers of the proposed Arab State were under the control of the IDF. This figure ignores the Negev desert which wasn't under any absolute control of either side.[171] In the period between the invasion and the first truce the Syrian army had 315 of its men killed and 400–500 injured; the Iraqi expeditionary force had 200 of its men killed and 500 injured; the Jordanian Arab Legion had 300 of its men killed and 400–500 (including irregulars and Palesinian volunteers fighting under the Jordanians); the Egyptian army had 600 of its men killed and 1,400 injured (including irregulars from the Muslim Brotherhood); the ALA, which returned to fight in early June, had 100 of its men killed or injured. 800 Jews were taken hostage by the Arabs and 1,300 Arabs were taken hostage by the Jews, mostly Palestinians.[171] The UN declared a truce on 29 May, which came into effect on 11 June and lasted 28 days. The truce was designed to last 28 days and an arms embargo was declared with the intention that neither side would make any gains from the truce. Neither side respected the truce; both found ways around the restrictions placed on them.[172] Both the Israelis and the Arabs used this time to improve their positions, a direct violation of the terms of the ceasefire.[173] At the time of the truce, the British view was that "the Jews are too weak in armament to achieve spectacular success".[172] As the truce commenced, a British officer stationed in Haifa stated that the four-week-long truce "would certainly be exploited by the Jews to continue military training and reorganization while the Arabs would waste [them] feuding over the future divisions of the spoils".[173] During the truce, the Israelis sought to bolster their forces by massive import of arms.[172] The IDF was able to acquire weapons from Czechoslovakia as well as improve training of forces and reorganization of the army during this time. Yitzhak Rabin, an IDF commander at the time of the war and later Israel's fifth Prime Minister, stated "[w]ithout the arms from Czechoslovakia... it is very doubtful whether we would have been able to conduct the war".[175] The Israeli army increased its manpower from approximately 30,000–35,000 men to almost 65,000 during the truce due to mobilization and the constant immigration into Israel. It was also able to increase its arms supply to more than 25,000 rifles, 5,000 machine guns, and fifty million bullets.[173] As well as violating the arms and personnel embargo, they also sent fresh units to the front lines, much as their Arab enemies did.[173] During the truce, Irgun attempted to bring in a private arms shipment aboard a ship called Altalena. When they refused to hand the arms to the Israeli government, Ben-Gurion ordered that the arms be confiscated by force if necessary. After meeting with armed resistance, the army was ordered by Ben-Gurion to sink the ship. Several Irgun members and IDF soldiers were killed in the fighting. The ceasefire was overseen by UN mediator Folke Bernadotte and a team of UN Observers made up of army officers from Belgium, United States, Sweden and France.[176] Bernadotte was voted in by the General Assembly to "assure the safety of the holy places, to safeguard the well being of the population, and to promote 'a peaceful adjustment of the future situation of Palestine'".[173] Folke Bernadotte reported: During the period of the truce, three violations occurred ... of such a serious nature: After the truce was in place, Bernadotte began to address the issue of achieving a political settlement. The main obstacles in his opinion were "the Arab world's continued rejection of the existence of a Jewish state, whatever its borders; Israel's new 'philosophy', based on its increasing military strength, of ignoring the partition boundaries and conquering what additional territory it could; and the emerging Palestinian Arab refugee problem".[173] Taking all the issues into account, Bernadotte presented a new partition plan. He proposed there be a Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel and that a "Union" "be established between the two sovereign states of Israel and Jordan (which now included the West Bank); that the Negev, or part of it, be included in the Arab state and that Western Galilee, or part of it, be included in Israel; that the whole of Jerusalem be part of the Arab state, with the Jewish areas enjoying municipal autonomy and that Lydda Airport and Haifa be 'free ports' – presumably free of Israeli or Arab sovereignty".[173] Israel rejected the proposal, in particular the aspect of losing control of Jerusalem, but they did agree to extend the truce for another month. The Arabs rejected both the extension of the truce and the proposal.[173] On 8 July, the day before the expiration of the truce, Egyptian forces under General Muhammad Naguib renewed the war by attacking Negba.[178] The following day, Israeli air forces launched a simultaneous offensive on all three fronts, ranging from Quneitra to Arish and the Egyptian air force bombed the city of Tel Aviv.[179] During the fighting, the Israelis were able to open a lifeline to a number of besieged kibbutzim.[172] The fighting continued for ten days until the UN Security Council issued the Second Truce on 18 July. During those 10 days, the fighting was dominated by large-scale Israeli offensives and a defensive posture from the Arab side. In the south, the IDF carried out several offensives, including Operation An-Far and Operation Death to the Invader. The task of the 11th Brigades's 1st Battalion on the southern flank was to capture villages, and its operation ran smoothly, with but little resistance from local irregulars. According to Amnon Neumann, a Palmach veteran of the Southern front, hardly any Arab villages in the south fought back, due to the miserable poverty of their means and lack of weapons, and suffered expulsion.[180] What slight resistance was offered was quelled by an artillery barrage, followed by the storming of the village, whose residents were expelled and houses destroyed.[181] On 12 July, the Egyptians launched an offensive action, and again attacked Negba, which they had previously failed to capture, using three infantry battalions, an armored battalion, and an artillery regiment. In the battle that followed, the Egyptians were repulsed, suffering 200–300 casualties, while the Israelis lost 5 dead and 16 wounded.[182] After failing to take Negba, the Egyptians turned their attention to more isolated settlements and positions. On 14 July, an Egyptian attack on Gal On was driven off by a minefield and by resistance from Gal On's residents.[183] The Egyptians then assaulted the lightly defended village of Be'erot Yitzhak. The Egyptians managed to penetrate the village perimeter, but the defenders concentrated in an inner position in the village and fought off the Egyptian advance until IDF reinforcements arrived and drove out the attackers. The Egyptians suffered an estimated 200 casualties, while the Israelis had 17 dead and 15 wounded. The battle was one of Egypt's last offensive actions during the war, and the Egyptians did not attack any Israeli villages following this battle. On 10 July, Glubb Pasha ordered the defending Arab Legion troops to "make arrangements...for a phony war".[184] Israeli Operation Danny was the most important Israeli offensive, aimed at securing and enlarging the corridor between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv by capturing the roadside cities Lod (Lydda) and Ramle. In a second planned stage of the operation the fortified positions of Latrun – overlooking the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway – and the city of Ramallah were also to be captured. Hadita, near Latrun, was captured by the Israelis at a cost of 9 dead. The objectives of Operation Danny were to capture territory east of Tel Aviv and then to push inland and relieve the Jewish population and forces in Jerusalem. Lydda had become an important military center in the region, lending support to Arab military activities elsewhere, and Ramle was one of the main obstacles blocking Jewish transportation. Lydda was defended by a local militia of around 1,000 residents, with an Arab Legion contingent of 125–300.[185] The IDF forces gathered to attack the city numbered around 8,000. It was the first operation where several brigades were involved. The city was attacked from the north via Majdal al-Sadiq and al-Muzayri'a, and from the east via Khulda, al-Qubab, Jimzu and Daniyal. Bombers were also used for the first time in the conflict to bombard the city. The IDF captured the city on 11 July.[172] Up to 450 Arabs and 9–10 Israeli soldiers were killed. The next day, Ramle fell.[172] The civilian populations of Lydda and Ramle fled or were expelled to the Arab front lines, and following resistance in Lydda, the population there was expelled without provision of transport vehicles; some of the evictees died on the long walk under the hot July sun.[186] On 15–16 July, an attack on Latrun took place but did not manage to occupy the fort.[172] A desperate second attempt occurred on 18 July by units from the Yiftach Brigade equipped with armored vehicles, including two Cromwell tanks, but that attack also failed. Despite the second truce, which began on 18 July, the Israeli efforts to conquer Latrun continued until 20 July. Operation Kedem's aim was to secure the Old City of Jerusalem, but fewer resources were allocated. The operation failed.[187] Originally the operation was to begin on 8 July, immediately after the first truce, by Irgun and Lehi forces. However, it was delayed by David Shaltiel, possibly because he did not trust their ability after their failure to capture Deir Yassin without Haganah assistance. Irgun forces commanded by Yehuda Lapidot were to break through at the New Gate, Lehi was to break through the wall stretching from the New Gate to the Jaffa Gate, and the Beit Horon Battalion was to strike from Mount Zion. The battle was planned to begin on the Shabbat, at 20:00 on 16 July, two days before the second ceasefire of the war. The plan went wrong from the beginning and was postponed first to 23:00 and then to midnight. It was not until 02:30 that the battle actually began. The Irgun managed to break through at the New Gate, but the other forces failed in their missions. At 05:45 on 17 July, Shaltiel ordered a retreat and to cease hostilities. On 14 July 1948, Irgun occupied the Arab village of Malha after a fierce battle. Several hours later, the Arabs launched a counterattack, but Israeli reinforcements arrived, and the village was retaken at a cost of 17 dead. The second plan was Operation Dekel, which was aimed at capturing the Lower Galilee including Nazareth. Nazareth was captured on 16 July, and by the time the second truce took effect at 19:00 18 July, the whole Lower Galilee from Haifa Bay to the Sea of Galilee was captured by Israel. Operation Brosh was launched in a failed attempt to dislodge Syrian forces from the Eastern Galilee and the Benot Yaakov Bridge. During the operation, 200 Syrians and 100 Israelis were killed. The Israeli Air Force also bombed Damascus for the first time. At 19:00 on 18 July, the second truce of the conflict went into effect after intense diplomatic efforts by the UN. On 16 September, Count Folke Bernadotte proposed a new partition for Palestine in which the Negev would be divided between Jordan and Egypt, and Jordan would annex Lydda and Ramla. There would be a Jewish state in the whole of Galilee, with the frontier running from Faluja northeast towards Ramla and Lydda. Jerusalem would be internationalized, with municipal autonomy for the city's Jewish and Arab inhabitants, the Port of Haifa would be a free port, and Lydda Airport would be a free airport. All Palestinian refugees would be granted the right of return, and those who chose not to return would be compensated for lost property. The UN would control and regulate Jewish immigration.[188] The plan was once again rejected by both sides. On the next day, 17 September, Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem by the militant Zionist group Lehi. A four-man team ambushed Bernadotte's motorcade in Jerusalem, killing him and a French UN observer sitting next to him. Lehi saw Bernadotte as a British and Arab puppet, and thus a serious threat to the emerging State of Israel, and feared that the provisional Israeli government would accept the plan, which it considered disastrous. Unbeknownst to Lehi, the government had already decided to reject it and resume combat in a month. Bernadotte's deputy, American Ralph Bunche, replaced him.[189][190][191][192] On 22 September 1948, the Provisional State Council of Israel passed the Area of Jurisdiction and Powers Ordnance, 5708–1948. The law officially added to Israel's size by annexing all land it had captured since the war began. It also declared that from then on, any part of Palestine captured by the Israeli army would automatically become part of Israel.[193] The Arab villagers of the area known as the "Little Triangle" south of Haifa, repeatedly fired at Israeli traffic along the main road from Tel Aviv to Haifa and were supplied by the Iraqis from northern Samaria.[194] The sniping at traffic continued during the Second Truce. The poorly planned assaults on 18 June and 8 July had failed to dislodge Arab militia from their superior positions. The Israelis launched Operation Shoter on 24 July in order to gain control of the main road to Haifa and to destroy all the enemy in the area.[194] Israeli assaults on 24 and 25 July were beaten back by stiff resistance. The Israelis then broke the Arab defenses with an infantry and armour assault backed by heavy artillery shelling and aerial bombing. Three Arab villages surrendered, and most of the inhabitants fled before and during the attack. The Israeli soldiers and aircraft struck at one of the Arab retreat routes, killing 60 Arab soldiers.[dubious ]. Most of the inhabitants fled before and during the attack, reaching northern Samaria; hundreds were forcibly expelled during the following days. At least a hundred militiamen and civilians were killed.[194] The Arabs claimed that the Israelis had massacred Arab civilians, but the Israelis rejected the claims.[dubious ] A United Nations investigation found no evidence of a massacre. Following the operation, the Tel Aviv-Haifa road was open to Israeli military and civilian traffic, and Arab roadblocks along the route were removed. Traffic along the Haifa-Hadera coastal railway was also restored. Israel launched a series of military operations to drive out the Arab armies and secure the northern and southern borders of Israel. On 22 October, the third truce went into effect.[195] Irregular Arab forces refused to recognize the truce, and continued to harass Israeli forces and settlements in the north. On the same day that the truce came into effect, the Arab Liberation Army violated the truce by attacking Manara, capturing the strongpoint of Sheikh Abed, repulsing counterattacks by local Israeli units, and ambushed Israeli forces attempting to relieve Manara. The IDF's Carmeli Brigade lost 33 dead and 40 wounded.[196] Manara and Misgav Am were totally cut off, and Israel's protests at the UN failed to change the situation. On 24 October, the IDF launched Operation Hiram and captured the entire upper Galilee area, driving the ALA and Lebanese Army back to Lebanon, and ambushing and destroying an entire Syrian battalion.[197] The Israeli force of four infantry brigades was commanded by Moshe Carmel.[197] The entire operation lasted just 60 hours, during which numerous villages were captured, often after locals or Arab forces put up resistance.[197] Arab losses were estimated at 400 dead and 550 taken prisoner, with low Israeli casualties.[197] Some prisoners were reportedly executed by the Israeli forces. An estimated 50,000 Palestinian refugees fled into Lebanon, some of them fleeing ahead of the advancing forces, and some expelled from villages which had resisted, while the Arab inhabitants of those villages which had remained at peace were allowed to remain and became Israeli citizens. The villagers of Iqrit and Birim were persuaded to leave their homes by Israeli authorities, who promised them that they would be allowed to return. Israel eventually decided not to allow them to return, and offered them financial compensation, which they refused to accept.[198] At the end of the month, the IDF had captured the whole of Galilee, driven all Lebanese forces out of Israel, and had advanced 5 miles (8.0 km) into Lebanon to the Litani River,[199] occupying thirteen Lebanese villages. In the village of Hula, two Israeli officers killed between 35 and 58 prisoners as retaliation for the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre. Both officers were later put on trial for their actions. Israel launched a series of military operations to drive out the Arab armies and secure the borders of Israel. However, invading the West Bank might have brought into the borders of the expanding State of Israel a massive Arab population it could not absorb. The Negev desert was an empty space for expansion, so the main war effort shifted to Negev from early October.[200] Israel decided to destroy or at least drive out the Egyptian expeditionary force since the Egyptian front lines were too vulnerable as permanent borders.[201] On 15 October, the IDF launched Operation Yoav in the northern Negev.[172] Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Egyptian forces along the coast and the Beersheba-Hebron-Jerusalem road and ultimately to conquer the whole Negev.[172] This was a special concern on the Israeli part because of a British diplomatic campaign to have the entire Negev handed over to Egypt and Jordan, and which thus made Ben-Gurion anxious to have Israeli forces in control of the Negev as soon as possible.[172] Operation Yoav was headed by the Southern Front commander Yigal Allon. Committed to Yoav were three infantry and one armoured brigades, who were given the task of breaking through the Egyptian lines.[197] The Egyptian positions were badly weakened by the lack of a defense in depth, which meant that once the IDF had broken through the Egyptian lines, there was little to stop them.[197] The operation was a huge success, shattering the Egyptian ranks and forcing the Egyptian Army from the northern Negev, Beersheba and Ashdod.[197] In the so-called "Faluja Pocket", an encircled Egyptian force was able to hold out for four months until the 1949 Armistice Agreements, when the village was peacefully transferred to Israel and the Egyptian troops left.[197] Four warships of the Israeli Navy provided support by bombarding Egyptian shore installations in the Ashkelon area, and preventing the Egyptian Navy from evacuating retreating Egyptian troops by sea.[169] On 19 October, Operation Ha-Har commenced in the Jerusalem Corridor, while a naval battle also took place near Majdal (now Ashkelon), with three Israeli corvettes facing an Egyptian corvette with air support. An Israeli sailor was killed and four wounded, and two of the ships were damaged. One Egyptian plane was shot down, but the corvette escaped. Israeli naval vessels also shelled Majdal on 17 October, and Gaza on 21 October, with air support from the Israeli Air Force. The same day, the IDF captured Beersheba, and took 120 Egyptian soldiers prisoner. On 22 October, Israeli naval commandos using explosive boats sank the Egyptian flagship Emir Faroukand damaged an Egyptian minesweeper.[197] On 9 November 1948, the IDF launched Operation Shmone to capture the Tegart fort in the village of Iraq Suwaydan. The fort's Egyptian defenders had previously repulsed eight attempts to take it, including two during Operation Yoav. Israeli forces bombarded the fort before an assault with artillery and airstrikes by B-17 bombers. After breaching the outlying fences without resistance, the Israelis blew a hole in the fort's outer wall, prompting the 180 Egyptian soldiers manning the fort to surrender without a fight. The defeat prompted the Egyptians to evacuate several nearby positions, including hills the IDF had failed to take by force. Meanwhile, IDF forces took Iraq Suwaydan itself after a fierce battle, losing 6 dead and 14 wounded. From 5 to 7 December, the IDF conducted Operation Assaf to take control of the Western Negev. The main assaults were spearheaded by mechanized forces, while Golani Brigade infantry covered the rear. An Egyptian counterattack was repulsed. The Egyptians planned another counterattack, but it failed after Israeli aerial reconnaissance revealed Egyptian preparations, and the Israelis launched a preemptive strike. About 100 Egyptians were killed, and 5 tanks were destroyed, with the Israelis losing 5 killed and 30 wounded.[citation needed] On 22 December, the IDF launched Operation Horev (also called Operation Ayin).[197] The goal of the operation was to drive all remaining Egyptian forces from the Negev, destroying the Egyptian threat on Israel's southern communities and forcing the Egyptians into a ceasefire. During five days of fighting, the Israelis secured the Western Negev, expelling all Egyptian forces from the area.[197] Israeli forces subsequently launched raids into the Nitzana area, and entered the Sinai Peninsula on 28 December. The IDF captured Umm Katef and Abu Ageila, and advanced north towards Al Arish, with the goal of encircling the entire Egyptian expeditionary force. Israeli forces pulled out of the Sinai on 2 January 1949 following joint British-American pressure and a British threat of military action. IDF forces regrouped at the border with the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces attacked Rafah the following day, and after several days of fighting, Egyptian forces in the Gaza Strip were surrounded. The Egyptians agreed to negotiate a ceasefire on 7 January, and the IDF subsequently pulled out of Gaza.[197] According to Morris, "the inequitable and unfair rules of engagement: the Arabs could launch offensives with impunity, but international interventions always hampered and restrained Israel's counterattacks."[202] On 28 December, the Alexandroni Brigade failed to take the Falluja Pocket, but managed to seize Iraq el-Manshiyeh and temporarily hold it.[203] The Egyptians counterattacked, but were mistaken for a friendly force and allowed to advance, trapping a large number of men. The Israelis lost 87 soldiers.[citation needed] On 5 March, Operation Uvda was launched following nearly a month of reconnaissance, with the goal of securing the Southern Negev from Jordan. The IDF entered and secured the territory, but did not meet significant resistance along the way, as the area was already designated to be part of the Jewish state in the UN Partition Plan, and the operation meant to establish Israeli sovereignty over the territory rather than actually conquer it. The Golani, Negev, and Alexandroni brigades participated in the operation, together with some smaller units and with naval support.[204] On 10 March, Israeli forces secured the Southern Negev, reaching the southern tip of Palestine: Umm Rashrash on the Red Sea (where Eilat was built later) and taking it without a battle. Israeli soldiers raised a hand-made Israeli flag ("The Ink Flag") at 16:00 on 10 March, claiming Umm Rashrash for Israel. The raising of the Ink Flag is considered to be the end of the war.[205] As the fighting progressed and Israel mounted an incursion into the Sinai, the Royal Air Force began conducting almost daily reconnaissance missions over Israel and the Sinai. RAF reconnaissance aircraft took off from Egyptian airbases and sometimes flew alongside Royal Egyptian Air Force planes. High-flying British aircraft frequently flew over Haifa and Ramat David Airbase, and became known to the Israelis as the "shuftykeit."[206] On 20 November 1948, an unarmed RAF photo-reconnaissance De Havilland Mosquito of No. 13 Squadron RAF was shot down by an Israeli Air Force P-51 Mustang flown by American volunteer Wayne Peake as it flew over the Galilee towards Hatzor Airbase. Peake opened fire with his cannons, causing a fire to break out in the port engine. The aircraft turned to sea and lowered its altitude, then exploded and crashed off Ashdod. The pilot and navigator were both killed.[206][207] Just before noon on 7 January 1949, four Spitfire FR18s from No. 208 Squadron RAF on a reconnaissance mission in the Deir al-Balah area flew over an Israeli convoy that had been attacked by five Egyptian Spitfires fifteen minutes earlier. The pilots had spotted smoking vehicles and were drawn to the scene out of curiosity. Two planes dived to below 500 feet altitude to take pictures of the convoy, while the remaining two covered them from 1,500 feet.[206][208] Israeli soldiers on the ground, alerted by the sound of the approaching Spitfires and fearing another Egyptian air attack, opened fire with machine guns. One Spitfire was shot down by a tank-mounted machine gun, while the other was lightly damaged and rapidly pulled up. The remaining three Spitfires were then attacked by patrolling IAF Spitfires flown by Slick Goodlin and John McElroy, volunteers from the United States and Canada respectively. All three Spitfires were shot down, and one pilot was killed.[206][208] Two pilots were captured by Israeli soldiers and taken to Tel Aviv for interrogation, and were later released. Another was rescued by Bedouins and handed over to the Egyptian Army, which turned him over to the RAF. Later that day, four RAF Spitfires from the same squadron escorted by seven Hawker Tempests from No. 213 Squadron RAF and eight from No. 6 Squadron RAF went searching for the lost planes, and were attacked by four IAF Spitfires. The Israeli formation was led by Ezer Weizman. The remaining three were manned by Weizman's wingman Alex Jacobs and American volunteers Bill Schroeder and Caesar Dangott.[206][208] The Tempests found they could not jettison their external fuel tanks, and some had non-operational guns. Schroeder shot down a British Tempest, killing pilot David Tattersfield, and Weizman severely damaged a British plane flown by Douglas Liquorish. Weizman's plane and two other British aircraft also suffered light damage during the engagement. The battle ended after the British wiggled their wings to be more clearly identified, and the Israelis eventually realized the danger of their situation and disengaged, returning to Hatzor Airbase.[206][208] Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion personally ordered the wrecks of the RAF fighters that had been shot down to be dragged into Israeli territory. Israeli troops subsequently visited the crash sites, removed various parts, and buried the other aircraft. However, the Israelis did not manage to conceal the wrecks in time to prevent British reconnaissance planes from photographing them. An RAF salvage team was deployed to recover the wrecks, entering Israeli territory during their search. Two were discovered inside Egypt, while Tattersfield's Tempest was found north of Nirim, four miles inside Israel. Interviews with local Arabs confirmed that the Israelis had visited the crash sites to remove and bury the wrecks. Tattersfield was initially buried near the wreckage, but his body was later removed and reburied at the British War Cemetery in Ramla.[206][209] In response, the RAF readied all Tempests and Spitfires to attack any IAF aircraft they encountered and bomb IAF airfields. British troops in the Middle East were placed on high alert with all leave cancelled, and British citizens were advised to leave Israel. The Royal Navy was also placed on high alert. At Hatzor Airbase, the general consensus among the pilots, most of whom had flown with or alongside the RAF during World War II, was that the RAF would not allow the loss of five aircraft and two pilots to go without retaliation, and would probably attack the base at dawn the next day. That night, in anticipation of an impending British attack, some pilots decided not to offer any resistance and left the base, while others prepared their Spitfires and were strapped into the cockpits at dawn, preparing to repel a retaliatory airstrike. However, despite pressure from the squadrons involved in the incidents, British commanders refused to authorize any retaliatory strikes.[206][210] The day following the incident, British pilots were issued a directive to regard any Israeli aircraft infiltrating Egyptian or Jordanian airspace as hostile and to shoot them down, but were also ordered to avoid activity close to Israel's borders. Later in January 1949, the British managed to prevent the delivery of aviation spirit and other essential fuels to Israel in retaliation for the incident. The British Foreign Office presented the Israeli government with a demand for compensation over the loss of personnel and equipment.[206][211] In December 1948, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194. It called to establish a UN Conciliation Commission to facilitate peace between Israel and Arab states. However, many of the resolution's articles were not fulfilled, since these were opposed by Israel, rejected by the Arab states, or were overshadowed by war as the 1948 conflict continued. Largely leftover World War II era weapons were used by both sides. Egypt had some British equipment; the Syrian army had some French. German, Czechoslovak and British equipment was used by Israel.[212] Area assigned for a Jewish state Area assigned for an Arab state Israeli controlled territory from 1949 In 1949, Israel signed separate armistices with Egypt on 24 February, Lebanon on 23 March, Jordan on 3 April, and Syria on 20 July. The Armistice Demarcation Lines, as set by the agreements, saw the territory under Israeli control encompassing approximately three-quarters of the prior British administered Mandate as it stood after Transjordan's independence in 1946. Israel controlled territories of about one-third more than was allocated to the Jewish State under the UN partition proposal.[213] After the armistices, Israel had control over 78% of the territory comprising former Mandatory Palestine[214][215] or some 8,000 square miles (21,000 km2), including the entire Galilee and Jezreel Valley in the north, whole Negev in south, West Jerusalem and the coastal plain in the center. The armistice lines were known afterwards as the "Green Line". The Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) were occupied by Egypt and Jordan respectively. The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization and Mixed Armistice Commissions were set up to monitor ceasefires, supervise the armistice agreements, to prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN peacekeeping operations in the region. Just before the signing of the Israel-Jordan armistice agreement, general Yigal Allon proposed to conquer the West Bank up to the Jordan River as the natural, defensible border of the state. Ben-Gurion refused, although he was aware that the IDF was militarily strong enough to carry out the conquest. He feared the reaction of Western powers and wanted to maintain good relations with the United States and not to provoke the British. More, the results of the war were already satisfactory and Israeli leaders had to build a nation.[216][217][218] Israel lost 6,373 of its people, about 1% of its population at the time, in the war. About 4,000 were soldiers and the rest were civilians.[10] Around 2,000 were Holocaust survivors.[219] The exact number of Arab casualties is unknown. One estimate places the Arab death toll at 7,000, including 3,000 Palestinians, 2,000 Egyptians, 1,000 Jordanians, and 1,000 Syrians.[104] In 1958, Palestinian historian Aref al-Aref calculated that the Arab armies' combined losses amounted to 3,700, with Egypt losing 961 regular and 200 irregular soldiers and Jordan losing 362 regulars and 200 irregulars. According to Henry Laurens, the Palestinians suffered double the Jewish losses, with 13,000 dead, 1,953 of whom are known to have died in combat situations. Of the remainder, 4,004 remain nameless but the place, tally and date of their death is known, and a further 7,043, for whom only the place of death is known, not their identities nor the date of their death. According to Laurens, the largest part of Palestinian casualties consisted of non-combatants and corresponds to the successful operations of the Israelis.[11] During the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War that followed, around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes, out of approximately 1,200,000 Arabs living in former British Mandate of Palestine. In 1951, the UN Conciliation Commission for Palestine estimated that the number of Palestinian refugees displaced from Israel was 711,000.[220] This number did not include displaced Palestinians inside Israeli-held territory. More than 400 Arab villages, and about ten Jewish villages and neighborhoods, were depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict, most of them during 1948. According to estimate based on earlier census, the total Muslim population in Palestine was 1,143,336 in 1947.[221] The causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus are a controversial topic among historians.[222] After the war, around 156,000 Arabs remained in Israel and became Israeli citizens.[223] Displaced Palestinian Arabs, known as Palestinian refugees, were settled in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the Arab world. The United Nations established UNRWA as a relief and human development agency tasked with providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. Arab nations refused to absorb Palestinian refugees, instead keeping them in refugee camps while insisting that they be allowed to return.[224][225] Refugee status was also passed on to their descendants, who were also largely denied citizenship in Arab states, except in Jordan.[226] The Arab League instructed its members to deny Palestinians citizenship "to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right of return to their homeland." More than 1.4 million Palestinians still live in 58 recognized refugee camps,[224][225] while more than 5 million Palestinians live outside Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian refugee problem and debate about the Palestinian right of return are also major issues of the Arab–Israeli conflict. Palestinians and their supporters have staged annual demonstrations and commemorations on 15 May of each year, which is known to them as "Nakba Day". The popularity and number of participants in these annual Nakba demonstrations has varied over time. During the Second Intifada after the failure of the Camp David 2000 Summit, the attendance at the demonstrations against Israel increased. During the 1948 War, around 10,000 Jews were forced to evacuate their homes from Arab dominated parts of former Mandatory Palestine.[227] But in the three years from May 1948 to the end of 1951, 700,000 Jews settled in Israel, mainly along the borders and in former Arab lands,[21] doubling the Jewish population there.[228] Of these, upwards of 300,000 arrived from Asian and North African nations.[229][230] Among them, the largest group (over 100,000) was from Iraq. The remaining came mostly from Europe, including 136,000 from the 250,000 displaced Jews of World War II living in refugee camps and urban centers in Germany, Austria, and Italy,[231] and more than 270,000 coming from Eastern Europe,[232] mainly Romania and Poland (over 100,000 each). On the establishment of the state, a top priority was given to a policy for the "ingathering of exiles", and the Mossad LeAliyah Bet gave key assistance to the Jewish Agency to organize immigrants from Europe and the Middle East, and arrange for their transport to Israel. For Ben-Gurion, a fundamental defect of the State was that 'it lacked Jews'.[233] Jewish immigrants from Arab and Muslim countries left for numerous reasons. The war's outcome had exacerbated Arab hostilities to local Jewish communities. News of the victory aroused messianic expectations in Libya and Yemen; Zionism had taken root in many countries; active incentives for making aliyah formed a key part of Israeli policy; and better economic prospects and security were to be expected from a Jewish state. Some Arab governments, Egypt, for example, held their Jewish communities hostage at times. Persecution, political instability, and news of a number of violent pogroms also played a role. Some 800,000–1,000,000 Jews eventually left the Arab world over the next three decades as a result of these various factors.[229] Approximately 680,000 of them immigrated to Israel; the rest mostly settled in Europe (mainly France) or the Americas.[234] Israel initially relied on Jewish Agency-run tent camps known as immigrant camps to accommodate displaced Jews from Europe and Muslim nations. In the 1950s, these were transformed into transition camps ("Ma'abarot"), where living conditions were improved and tents were replaced with tin dwellings. Unlike the situation in the immigrant camps, when the Jewish Agency provided for immigrants, residents of the transition camps were required to provide for themselves. These camps began to decline in 1952, with the last one closing in 1963. The camps were largely transformed into permanent settlements known as development towns, while others were absorbed as neighborhoods of the towns they were attached to, and the residents were given permanent housing in these towns and neighborhoods.[235] Most development towns eventually grew into cities. Some Jewish immigrants were also given the vacant homes of Palestinian refugees. There were also attempts to settle Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries in moshavim (cooperative farming villages), though these efforts were only partially successful, as they had historically been craftsmen and merchants in their home countries, and did not traditionally engage in farm work. After the war, Israeli and Palestinian historiographies differed on the interpretation of the events of 1948:[236] in the West the majority view was of a tiny group of vastly outnumbered and ill-equipped Jews fighting off the massed strength of the invading Arab armies; it was also widely believed that the Palestinian Arabs left their homes on the instruction of their leaders.[237] From 1980, with the opening of the Israeli and British archives, some Israeli historians have developed a different account of the period. In particular, the role played by Abdullah I of Jordan, the British government, the Arab aims during the war, the balance of force and the events related to the Palestinian exodus have been nuanced or given new interpretations.[237] Some of them are still hotly debated among historians and commentators of the conflict today.[238] A 2015 PBS documentary, A Wing and a Prayerdepicts the Al Schwimmer-led airborne smuggling missions to arm Israel.[239] The film Cast a Giant Shadow tells the story of an American colonel who was instrumental in the Israeli victory. [27] [28] [29] 
Các lực lượng vũ trang
Mục tiêu chính trị
Yishuv
Liên đoàn Ả Rập nói chung
King Abdullah I of Jordan
The other Arab states
Arab Higher Committee of Amin al-Husayni
Initial line-up of forces
Military assessments
Yishuv/Israeli forces
Brigade Commander Size[101] Operations Golani Moshe Mann 4,500 Dekel, Hiram Carmeli Moshe Carmel 2,000 Hiram Alexandroni Dan Even 5,200 Latrun, Hametz Kiryati Michael Ben-Gal 1,400 Dani, Hametz Givati Shimon Avidan 5,000 Hametz, Barak, Pleshet Etzioni David Shaltiel Battle of Jerusalem, Shfifon, Yevusi, Battle of Ramat Rachel 7th Armoured Shlomo Shamir Battles of Latrun 8th Armoured Yitzhak Sadeh Danny, Yoav, Horev Oded Avraham Yoffe Yoav, Hiram Harel Yitzhak Rabin[102] 1,400 Nachshon, Danny Yiftach Yigal Allon 4,500 inc. some Golani Yiftah, Danny, Yoav, Battles of Latrun Negev Nahum Sarig 2,400 Yoav 
Arab forces
Military Division Commander[112][113] Rank Military Zone of operations First Brigade, includes: 1st and 3rd regiments Desmond Goldie Colonel Nablus Military Zone Second Brigade, includes: Fifth and Sixth Regiments Sam Sidney Arthur Cooke Brigadier Support force Third Brigade, includes: Second and Fourth Regiments Teel Ashton Colonel Ramallah Military Zone Fourth Brigade Ahmad Sudqi al-Jundi Colonel Support: Ramallah, Hebron, and Ramla 
Course of the war
First phase: 15 May – 11 June 1948
Southern front – Negev
Battles of Latrun
Battle for Jerusalem
Northern Samaria
Northern front – Lake of Galilee
Palestinian forces
Air operations
Sea battles
End of the first phase
First truce: 11 June – 8 July 1948
Reinforcements
Initial strength 29,677 4 June 40,825 17 July 63,586 7 October 88,033 28 October 92,275 2 December 106,900 23 December 107,652 30 December 108,300 
UN mediator Bernadotte
Second phase: 8–18 July 1948 ("Ten Day Battles")
Southern front
Lydda and al-Ramla
Jerusalem
Southern Galilee
Eastern Galilee
Second truce: 18 July – 15 October 1948
Little triangle pocket
Third phase: 15 October 1948 – 10 March 1949
Northern front – Galilee
Negev
Anglo-Israeli air clashes
UN Resolution 194
Weapons
Type Arab armies IDF Tanks Matilda tanks, R-39s, FT-17s, R35s, Panzer IVs (dug in and used as stationary gun emplacements by Egypt), Fiat M13/40, Sherman M4, M-22, Vickers MK-6. Cromwell tanks, H39s, M4 Sherman APCs/IFVs British World War II era trucks, Humber Mk III & IV, Automitrailleuses Dodge/Bich type, improvised armored cars/trucks, Marmon-Herrington Armoured Cars, Universal Carriers, Lloyd Towing Carriers British World War II era trucks, improvised armored cars/trucks, White M3A1 Scout Cars, Daimler Armoured Cars, M3 Half-tracks, IHC M14 Half-tracks, M5 Half-tracks Artillery Mortars, 15 cm sIG33 auf Pz IIs, 25 mm anti-tank guns on Bren carriers, improvised self-propelled guns used by Syrians in 1948–49, 65 mm mountain guns on Lorraine 38L chenillettes2-pounder anti-tank guns, 6-pounder anti-tank guns Mortars, 2-inch (51 mm) British mortars, 65 mm French howitzers (Napoleonchiks), 120 mm French mortars, Davidka mortars Aircraft Spitfires, T-6 Texans, C-47 Dakotas, Hawker Hurricanes, Avro Ansons Spitfires, Avia S-199s, B-17 Flying Fortresses, P-51 Mustangs, C-47 Dakotas Small Arms Lee–Enfield rifles, Bren Guns, Sten guns, MAS 36s Sten guns, Mills grenades, Karabiner 98k (Czech copies), Bren Guns, MG-34 Machine guns, Thompson submachine guns, Lee–Enfield rifles, Molotov cocktails, PIAT anti-tank infantry weapon Aftermath
1949 Armistice Agreements
Boundaries defined in the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine:
Armistice Demarcation Lines of 1949 (Green Line):Casualties
Demographic outcome
Palestinian Arabs
Jews
Historiography
In popular culture
Maps
See also
Notes
– Memo US Department of State, 4 May 1949FRUS, 1949, p. 973.: "One of the most important problems which must be clared up before a lasting peace can be established in Palestine is the question of the more than 700,000 Arab refugees who during the Palestine conflict fled from their homes in what is now Israeli occupied territory and are at present living as refugees in Arab Palestine and the neighbouring Arab states.";
– Memorandum on the Palestine Refugee Problem, 4 May 1949FRUS, 1949, p. 984.: "Approximately 700,000 refugees from the Palestine hostilities, now located principally in Arab Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon and Syria, will require repatriation to Israel or resettlement in the Arab states." 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.
why did the first communique described the Palestine operations as a merely punitive expedition against the Zionist "gangs"
a) the suspension of arms sales to Syria, notwithstanding signed contracts; b) prevention of a large sale of arms by a Swiss company to Ethiopia, which was actually destined for Egypt and Jordan; c) diplomatic pressure on Belgium to suspend arms sales to the Arab states; d) denial of a British request at the end of April to permit the landing of a squadron of British aircraft on their way to Transjordan; e) authorization of Air France to transport cargo to Tel Aviv on 13 May; f) allowing aircraft [carrying arms from Czechoslovakia] to land on French territory in transit to Israel; g) discreet French diplomatic support for Israel in the UN; h) two arms shipments to ‘Nicaragua’, which were actually intended for Israel.
.= Iraq had dispatched 3,000 troops to the front in May and in the months that followed a further 15,000 troops were sent, making them the largest single Arab force in Palestine (also – The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, edited by Eugene L. Rogan, Avi Shlaim, chapter at pp. 125–49)
King Abdullah had always acknowledged Arab (as distinct from Jordanian) weakness, and his son, Prince Talal, openly predicted defeat. at the last moment, several leaders, including King Ibn Sagud and Azzam Pasha – to avert catastrophe – secretly appealed to the British to soldier on in Palestine for at least another year. Egypt's foreign minister, Khashaba, had already done so. He 'wished they would remain, and suggested that it was their duty to do so.'
A war between Israel and the Arab States broke out immediately, and the Arab armies invaded Palestine.
Intelligence provided by the French consulate in Jerusalem on 12 May 1948 on the Arab armies’ revised plan to invade the new state was crucial in Israel’s success in withstanding the Arab invasion
On 26–27 May, the Legionnaires took the Hurvat Israel (or "Hurva") Synagogue, the quarter’s largest and most sacred building, and then, without reason, blew it up. 'This affair will rankle for generations in the heart of world Jewry,' predicted one Foreign Office official. The destruction of the synagogue shook Jewish morale.
Mr. Shamir, nearly 80, still speaks elliptically about the Bernadotte assassination. Years later, when Ben-Gurion moved to a kibbutz in the Negev desert, Sdeh Bokker, one of his closest friends there was Yehoshua Cohen, who had been one of the assassins.
Review of Kati Marton's biography. In recent years, several members of the group known by the British as the Stern Gang have acknowledged responsibility for the killing. Mr. Shamir, who was a member of the Stern Gang, has declined to discuss the killing, and one of his spokesman has said he had no role in it.
'the Little Triangle': Ijzim, Ein Ghazal, and Jaba. The villages repeatedly fired at Israeli traffic along the coast road and were supplied by the Iraqis from northern Samaria. … Sniping at traffic continued after the start of the Second Truce, …on 24 July Israel launched mivtza shoter (Operation Policeman). The aim was 'to gain control' of the coast road between Zikhron Yaakov and Haifa 'and to destroy all the enemy in the area.'… By 26 July it was over. Most of the inhabitants fled before and during the attack, reaching northern Samaria; hundreds of others were forcibly expelled during the following days. At least a hundred militiamen and civilians were killed.
If the front lines of 14 October were to turn into permanent borders, Israel would be truncated and extremely vulnerable. Moreover, the no-peace, no-war situation was untenable. As David Ben-Gurion put it to his ministers on 26 September, "A protracted truce will break us. The Egyptian expeditionary force had to be destroyed or, at the least, driven from Palestine
(Ben Gurion) He also did not flinch from provoking the United Nations by breaking the truce agreement. But the limit of his fearlessness was a clash with a Western power. Vainly, the right and Mapam accused him of defeatism. He did not flinch from confronting them but chose to maintain good relations with the United States, which he perceived as a potential ally of the new state, and also not to provoke the British lion, even though its fangs had been drawn. At the end of the war, when Yigal Allon, who represented the younger generation of commanders that had grown up in the war, demanded the conquest of the West Bank up to the Jordan River as the natural, defensible border of the state, Ben-Gurion refused. He recognized that the IDF was militarily strong enough to carry out the conquest, but he believed that the young state should not bite off more than it had already chewed. There was a limit to what the world was prepared to accept. Furthermore, the armistice borders – which later became known as the Green Line – were better than those he had dreamed of at the beginning of the war. In Ben-Gurion's opinion, in terms of territory Israel was satisfied. It was time to send the troops home and start work on building the new nation.
in March 1949, just before the signing of the Israel-Jordan armistice agreement, when IDF general Yigal Allon proposed conquering the West Bank, Ben-Gurion turned him down flat. Like most Israelis, Ben-Gurion had given up the dream
The clearest expression of this 'activist' approach is found in a "personal, top secret" letter sent by Yigal Allon to BG shortly after ... We cannot imagine a border more stable than the Jordan River, which runs the entire length of the country
In order to highlight the plight of the refugees and to put pressure on Israel to admit responsibility for them, Arab countries (except Jordan) have denied citizenship rights to the Palestinians in their midst; in so doing, they claimed they were serving the interests of the Palestinians and supporting their right of return.
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