Timeline in
1948
Because the background of events leading to the Zionist settlement
in Palestine is so wide, the geographical
scope of this timeline includes
events outside the immediate theatre of Palestine.
1949
Jan 1949: British forces sent to secure the port of Aqaba against Israeli attack
1948
31 Dec 1948:
end of
Operation Velvetta
>>start date
31 Dec 1948: Truman issues ultimatum, that Israel withdraw from Sinai
28 Dec 1948:
end of
Battle of 'Auja
>>start date
28 Dec 1948: Israeli forces invade Egypt
26 Dec 1948:
start of
Battle of 'Auja
>>end date
25 Dec 1948: Second Battle of Bir 'Asluj
23 Dec 1948:
end of
Battle for "Hill 86" in the Gaza Strip
>>start date
22 Dec 1948:
start of
Battle for "Hill 86" in the Gaza Strip
>>end date
22 Dec 1948:
start of
Operation Horev (Israeli attack on Gaza and Egypt)
>>end date
late Dec 1948: Ben-Gurion suggests, and the JNF representative agrees, that the JNF should buy 1 million dunams of refugees land from the state
20 Dec 1948: Israeli cabinet decides to transfer 'government institutions' to Jerusalem
18 Dec 1948: Ben-Gurion declares "We will not allow the Arabs back."
17 Dec 1948: UN Security Council rejects Israeli application for UN membership
16 Dec 1948: Airlift of Yemenite Jews from Aden to Israel
12 Dec 1948: Issue of 'Emergency Regulations Relating to Absentees Property'
11 Dec 1948: UN passed UNGA Resolution 194 on Palestinian Refugees
10 Dec 1948: UN adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
10 Dec 1948: JNF agrees to land from Israeli state to prevent implementation of UNGA Resolution 194
Dec 1948: Israeli agents try, but fail, to capture Adolf Eichmann in Austria
Dec 1948:
start of
Gradual expulsion of Palestinians from al-Majdal Asqalan
>>end date
29 Nov 1948: Israel makes first application for UN membership
20 Nov 1948: Expulsion of the villagers of Kafr Bir'im (Biram)
08 Nov 1948: Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics conducts a population census
05 Nov 1948:
end of
Ethnic cleansing of Barbara
>>start date
04 Nov 1948:
start of
Ethnic cleansing of Barbara
>>end date
Nov 1948: Occupation of Biram (Kafr Bir'im)
Nov 1948: Ethnic cleansing of Iqrit
Nov 1948: South African government refuses to extend de jure recognition to Israel
31 Oct 1948: Occupation of Iqrit (Ikrit) -- which was ethnically cleansed a few days later
31 Oct 1948:
end of
Operation Hiram
>>start date
31 Oct 1948: Israelis massacre 82 people at Hula in Lebanon
30 Oct 1948: Massacre at Sasa
30 Oct 1948: Massacre at Saliha
30 Oct 1948: Massacre at Majd al-Kurum
30 Oct 1948: Massacre at Safsaf
30 Oct 1948: Massacre at Eilabun
29 Oct 1948: Massacre at Jish
29 Oct 1948:
start of
Operation Hiram
>>end date
28 Oct 1948: Massacre at al-Dawayima
24 Oct 1948: Massacre at Hula in Lebanon
23 Oct 1948: Israeli attack on al-Zakariya
21 Oct 1948: Imposition of Martial Law on Palestinians remaining in Israeli-controlled territory
15 Oct 1948: Israeli attack ends 2nd truce
15 Oct 1948: Israeli army fabricates pretext to break truce
15 Oct 1948:
end of
Second truce
>>start date
14 Oct 1948: Israeli air force bombs Majdal and Hanoun
14 Oct 1948: Israeli Air Force bombs Gaza City
08 Oct 1948: Israeli government announces agreement with Shell and Socony oil companies
05 Oct 1948: King Abdallah of Transjordan demands dissolution of Palestine Arab Government at Gaza
01 Oct 1948: Proclamation of Palestinian independence
30 Sep 1948: Palestinian National Council meeting in Gaza approves government headed by Ahmad Hilmi Pasha
28 Sep 1948:
start of
Operation Velvetta
>>end date
28 Sep 1948: Hajj Amin al-Husayni arrived in Gaza
26 Sep 1948: Israeli cabinet discuss Ben-Gurion's proposal that Israeli army capture southern part of West Bank and expel all Arabs from Galilee
23 Sep 1948: Execution on Shafik Ades in Iraq
20 Sep 1948: All-Palestine government formed in Gaza
20 Sep 1948: Bernadotte's peace plan published 3 days after his death
17 Sep 1948: Stern gang murders UN Mediator, Folke Bernadotte
08 Sep 1948: Arrest of Stern Gang members near Tel Aviv
08 Sep 1948: Herut (Freedom) Party merges with Revisionists
Sep 1948: Abe Feinberg arranges finance for Truman's whistle-stop tour during 1948 presidential election campaign
30 Aug 1948: First Israeli refusenik sentenced, in Haifa court
29 Aug 1948: Massacre at Arab Suqrir
17 Aug 1948: Abortive Israeli army attack on Government House in Jerusalem
16 Aug 1948: Anglo-Palestine Bank is appointed the financial agent of the state of Israel
14 Aug 1948:
end of
1948 Summer Olympics in London
>>start date
05 Aug 1948: Israel appoints a Military Governor of the Occupied Area of Jerusalem
04 Aug 1948:
end of
Operation Balak
>>start date
02 Aug 1948: Jerusalem Declared Israel-Occupied City
01 Aug 1948: Date proposed in November 1947 as implementation date for partition of Palestine
Aug 1948: Mivtza Nikayon — Operation Cleaning
31 Jul 1948: Massacre at Elot
29 Jul 1948:
start of
1948 Summer Olympics in London
>>end date
26 Jul 1948:
end of
Ethnic cleansing of the Little Triangle
>>start date
24 Jul 1948:
start of
Ethnic cleansing of the Little Triangle
>>end date
18 Jul 1948:
start of
Second truce
>>end date
18 Jul 1948:
end of
Siege of Jerusalem
>>start date
18 Jul 1948:
end of
Operation Dekel
>>start date
18 Jul 1948:
end of
Operation Danny (Mivtza Dani in Hebrew)
>>start date
17 Jul 1948: Operation Kedem
16 Jul 1948: Nazareth surrenders to Israeli troops
15 Jul 1948: Israeli aircraft bomb Saffuriya
15 Jul 1948: UN Security Council orders second truce
14 Jul 1948: Israelis capture Shafa 'Amr
14 Jul 1948: British agents disguised as Jordanian legionnaires attack the French Consulate compound in the Old City of Jerusalem
13 Jul 1948: Expulsion of the population of Lydda and Ramleh
12 Jul 1948: Massacre at Dahmash mosque in al-Lydd
11 Jul 1948: Israelis occupy al-Lydd (Lydda, now known as Lod)
09 Jul 1948:
start of
Operation Danny (Mivtza Dani in Hebrew)
>>end date
09 Jul 1948:
end of
First truce in Arab-Israeli War
>>start date
08 Jul 1948:
start of
Operation Dekel
>>end date
07 Jul 1948: Agreement to demilitarize Mount Scopus
06 Jul 1948: Ben-Gurion resigns as prime minister and then agrees to continue when Galili agrees to be sacrificed
06 Jul 1948:
end of
Generals' Revolt in Israel
>>start date
Jul 1948: Israeli army HQ orders all commanders to Hebreicize their names
Jul 1948: Start of destruction of old city of Tiberias
Jul 1948: Results of Palestine MAtriculation Examination announced on Israeli radio
Jul 1948: Operation Nylon
30 Jun 1948: Drumhead trial and execution of Meir Tobyanski
30 Jun 1948: Last British troops leave Palestine
30 Jun 1948: Publication of Israeli "Abandoned Areas Ordinance"
29 Jun 1948: Israelis steal 3 Cromwell tanks from British troops
28 Jun 1948: Bernadotte proposes peace plan
27 Jun 1948:
end of
Visit by king of Trans-Jordan to Saudi Arabia to end feud
>>start date
25 Jun 1948:
start of
Visit by king of Trans-Jordan to Saudi Arabia to end feud
>>end date
24 Jun 1948: Palmach unit break up the Irgun headquarters
21 Jun 1948: Israelis steal 5 rail wagons of petrol from British troops
21 Jun 1948: Haganah sink the Irgun ship "Altalena"
18 Jun 1948: Israeli forces attack and burn Arab village of Zanghariya
18 Jun 1948: Israelis steal armoured car and guns from British troops in Haifa port
16 Jun 1948: Israeli cabinet decides not to allow return of Palestinian refugees
15 Jun 1948:
end of
Capture and total destruction of the al-Maghar village
>>start date
11 Jun 1948:
start of
First truce in Arab-Israeli War
>>end date
11 Jun 1948: First Battle of Bir 'Asluj
07 Jun 1948: Moroccan Jew attacks Muslim with scissors in Oujda, triggering a pogrom
05 Jun 1948: Weitz gives Ben-Gurion his memo recommending retroactive transfer
03 Jun 1948:
end of
Mivtza Pleshet (Operation Philistia)
>>start date
02 Jun 1948: Battle of Ras al-Ayn
01 Jun 1948: Second Battle of Latrun
01 Jun 1948:
start of
Mivtza Pleshet (Operation Philistia)
>>end date
29 May 1948: Israeli aircraft attack Egyptians at Isdud
28 May 1948: Egyptians reach Isdud, digging in two miles to its north
28 May 1948: Surrender of Jewish quarter of Old City of Jerusalem
26 May 1948: Election in South Africa ushers in the era of Apartheid
late May 1948: French government decides to donate arms to Irgun
24 May 1948: Iraqi regulars move into Nablus-Jenin-Tulkarm triangle
24 May 1948: Egyptians reach Majdal, making it their headquarters
24 May 1948: First Battle of Latrun
24 May 1948: Jan Smuts gives de facto recognition to Israel
23 May 1948:
end of
Massacre at al-Tantura
>>start date
23 May 1948: Israeli agents attempt to poison Gaza water supply
22 May 1948:
start of
Massacre at al-Tantura
>>end date
22 May 1948: Egyptian Spitfires shot down by British airmen
late May 1948: Israeli Air Force bombs Gaza City
21 May 1948: Egyptian units reach Bethlehem after crossing desert through Beer el Sabe
late May 1948: Israeli army expels the people of Ghabisiyya
21 May 1948: Carmeli Brigade capture al-Ghabisiyya
20 May 1948: UN Security Council appoints Folke Bernadotte as Mediator for Palestine
20 May 1948: Massacre at Kabri
19 May 1948: Kibbutz Yad Mordechai attacks passing Egyptian column
19 May 1948:
end of
Typhoid epidemic in besieged Acre -- poisoned water supply suspected
>>start date
18 May 1948: Massacre at Acre
18 May 1948: Israeli army attacks Old City of Jerusalem
18 May 1948: Egyptian air raid on Tel Aviv
17 May 1948: Capture of Acre
16 May 1948: US army in Germany commits to assisting Jews in Germany and Austria to leave for Israel
15 May 1948:
start of
Capture and total destruction of the al-Maghar village
>>end date
15 May 1948: Egyptian Spitfires bomb Sdeh Dov airfield
15 May 1948: Arab army contingents enter Palestine
15 May 1948: Egypt closes Suez canal to ships travelling to/from Palestine
15 May 1948: Egyptian army attacks Dangour
15 May 1948: Nakba day zero
15 May 1948:
end of
Ethnic cleansing of Bisan
>>start date
15 May 1948: Acre surrenders to Haganah
14 May 1948: Last British High Commissioner departs from Haifa
14 May 1948: British Union Jack at remains of King David Hotel replaced by flag of International Red Cross
14 May 1948: British High Commissioner leaves Jerusalem for Haifa
14 May 1948: Cancellation, by British Mandate authorities in Palestine, of Emergency Regulations
14 May 1948: US recognizes Israel
14 May 1948: Kfar Etzion settlement surrenders to Arab forces
14 May 1948:
start of
Ethnic cleansing of Bisan
>>end date
14 May 1948: Declaration of Israel's independence
14 May 1948: Ben-Gurion promises than an Israeli constitution would be in place before 1 October 1948
14 May 1948: UNGA approves creation of United Nations Mediator for Palestine
14 May 1948:
end of
Second Special Session of General Assembly met in Flushing Meadows
>>start date
13 May 1948: Chairman of UN Consular Truce Commission heads for Amman to offer US truce terms to Arab Higher Committee
13 May 1948:
end of
Zionist attack on, and capture of, Jaffa
>>start date
13 May 1948: UN subcommittee recommends temporary regime for Palestine as a whole
13 May 1948: In press conference, Truman refuses to commit himself on recognition of Jewish state
13 May 1948: Harold Evans appointed Special Municipal Commissioner for Jerusalem
12 May 1948: Meeting of Provisional State Council
12 May 1948: Provisional State Council votes, 5 to 4, not to mention borders in Israeli declaration of independence
12 May 1948: Drafting of Israeli Declaration of Independence
12 May 1948: White House discussion of US action in event of declaration of Jewish state
12 May 1948: Truman and Marshall clash over proposal to recognize Jewish state in Palestine
11 May 1948: Golda Meir visits Abdullah in Amman
11 May 1948: A letter bomb addressed to Sir Evelyn Barker was detected by his wife.
10 May 1948: British Life Guards withdraw from Jaffa to Sarafand camp
09 May 1948: Haganah meeting in Netanya to decide fate of Tantura and neighbouring coastal villages
08 May 1948:
end of
Ethnic Cleansing of Safed
>>start date
07 May 1948:
start of
Ethnic Cleansing of Safed
>>end date
06 May 1948: Haganah leadership present Ben-Gurion with ultimatum, demanding reinstatement of Israel Galili as head of National Command
06 May 1948:
start of
Typhoid epidemic in besieged Acre -- poisoned water supply suspected
>>end date
05 May 1948: Trusteeship Council adopts plan to select Special Municipal Commissioner for Jerus'm
05 May 1948: ALA troops leave Jaffa under British protection
04 May 1948: United Nations committee starts to draft resolution for provisional regime in Palestine
04 May 1948:
end of
Further massacres at Ein ez Zeitun (Ayn Zaytoun)
>>start date
04 May 1948: Jessup telegram to Dean Rusk on Soviet intentions in Middle East
03 May 1948: Letter bomb sent to Roy Farran kills his brother, Rex
03 May 1948:
start of
Further massacres at Ein ez Zeitun (Ayn Zaytoun)
>>end date
02 May 1948: British officers of Arab Legion meet with Haganah officers
01 May 1948: Massacre at Ein ez Zeitun (Ayn Zaytoun)
May 1948: Operation Barak
30 Apr 1948: US proposes temporary trusteeship for Jerusalem.
30 Apr 1948: Haganah and Palmach finish the ethnic cleansing of Qatamon
30 Apr 1948:
end of
Final Haganah attack on Qatamon, leading to its capture
>>start date
29 Apr 1948:
start of
Final Haganah attack on Qatamon, leading to its capture
>>end date
28 Apr 1948: UN Trusteeship Council announces tentative truce in Old City
28 Apr 1948: Battle for Tel Arish
28 Apr 1948: Start of Operation Hametz (Mitzva Hametz)
26 Apr 1948: UN General Assembly asks Trusteeship Council to protect Jerusalem and its people
26 Apr 1948:
start of
Generals' Revolt in Israel
>>end date
25 Apr 1948: Haganah attack Saqiya
25 Apr 1948:
start of
Zionist attack on, and capture of, Jaffa
>>end date
23 Apr 1948:
end of
Haganah capture of Haifa - Operation Bi'ur Hametz ("Passover Cleaning")
>>start date
22 Apr 1948:
end of
Capture of Tiberias
>>start date
22 Apr 1948: Haganah shell Palestinian refugees in market square in Haifa
22 Apr 1948: Clash between British Army and guards at Moshav Mivtahim
late Apr 1948: British authorities in Palestine evacuate last Templers to Germany and Australia
21 Apr 1948: British army commander in Haifa informs Arabs that his troops are evacuating city immediately, apart from harbor and key roads that army would need during organized withdrawal in late May
21 Apr 1948:
start of
Haganah capture of Haifa - Operation Bi'ur Hametz ("Passover Cleaning")
>>end date
21 Apr 1948: British army commander in Haifa informs the Hagana that his troops are evacuating city immediately, apart from harbor and key roads that army would need during organized withdrawal in mid-May
21 Apr 1948: Trusteeship Council votes to refer Jerusalem statute to General Assembly
20 Apr 1948: US delegation introduces "working paper" on Palestine trusteeship
20 Apr 1948: Gromyko criticises US and UK stance on Palestine
18 Apr 1948: General Stockwell announces withdrawal of British forces from city of Haifa
18 Apr 1948: Expulsion of Arab residents of Tiberias
17 Apr 1948: UNSC adopts resolution creating Truce Commission in Palestine
16 Apr 1948:
start of
Capture of Tiberias
>>end date
16 Apr 1948:
start of
Second Special Session of General Assembly met in Flushing Meadows
>>end date
13 Apr 1948: Attack on Mount Scopus convey
12 Apr 1948: Haganah attacks Nasir al-Din
12 Apr 1948: A company of the 12th Battalion, Golani Brigade, attacked and captures Khirbet Nasir ad Din
12 Apr 1948: Zionist General Council declares it will establish a state at the end of the Mandate
12 Apr 1948:
end of
Operation Nachshon (or Nahshon)
>>start date
11 Apr 1948:
end of
Massacre at Deir Yasin
>>start date
11 Apr 1948: Zionist Executive meeting
09 Apr 1948:
start of
Massacre at Deir Yasin
>>end date
09 Apr 1948: Haganah forces retake Kastal
08 Apr 1948: Palestinians recapture al-Qastal from Haganah
06 Apr 1948:
start of
Operation Nachshon (or Nahshon)
>>end date
01 Apr 1948: Operation Hassida (Hasida -- 'Stork')
01 Apr 1948:
start of
Operation Balak
>>end date
Apr 1948: Conference of Arab chiefs of staff
01 Apr 1948: UNSC approves US-proposed resolutions on Palestine
Apr 1948: Robert F. Kennedy visits Palestine
Apr 1948: Ben-Gurion seeks to hire European scientists to create weapons of mass destruction
30 Mar 1948: US introduces UNSC resolution calling for truce and for special session of UNGA
30 Mar 1948: Start of Palestine Matriculation Examinations
28 Mar 1948: Haganah used three Auster aircraft to drop anti-personnel bombs on Arab positions
28 Mar 1948: Battle of Kabri
28 Mar 1948:
end of
Zionists attack Beit Daras
>>start date
27 Mar 1948: Haganah use Auster aircraft to strafe Arab positions
27 Mar 1948:
start of
Zionists attack Beit Daras
>>end date
25 Mar 1948:
start of
Siege of Jerusalem
>>end date
21 Mar 1948:
end of
Ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Muwanis village by soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade
>>start date
20 Mar 1948:
start of
Ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Muwanis village by soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade
>>end date
20 Mar 1948: US Secretary of State George Marshall supports temporary trusteeship for Palestine
19 Mar 1948: UNSC permanent members report back to UNSC
19 Mar 1948: US representative to UNSC proposes temporary trusteeship for Palestine
18 Mar 1948: Truman pledges to Weizmann that US will recognize a Jewish state if it is proclaimed
15 Mar 1948: Anglo-Jordanian Treaty of 1948
13 Mar 1948: Edward Jacobson persuades Harry Truman to meet CHaim Weizmann
11 Mar 1948: Palestinian car bomb attack on Jewish Agency compound in Jerusalem
10 Mar 1948: Trusteeship Council completes draft statute for City of Jerusalem
10 Mar 1948: Zionist leadership decides to ethnically cleanse as much of Palestine as it can conquer
05 Mar 1948: Jewish Agency liaison Eliahu Elath talks with editorial board of New York Times
05 Mar 1948: Security Council asks permanent members for instructions for Palestine Commission.
03 Mar 1948:
end of
Gold Coast riots
>>start date
29 Feb 1948: LEHI bomb derails British troop train near Rehovot, killing 27 soldiers
28 Feb 1948:
start of
Gold Coast riots
>>end date
28 Feb 1948: Haganah car bombs a Palestinian garage used to make car bombs in Haifa; 30 Palestinians killed and 70 wounded
27 Feb 1948:
end of
Abduction and murder, by LEHI, of two prominent Poles in Palestine
>>start date
26 Feb 1948:
start of
Abduction and murder, by LEHI, of two prominent Poles in Palestine
>>end date
22 Feb 1948: Palestinian truck bomb attack on Ben-Yehuda street devastates the Haganah headquarters
20 Feb 1948: Massacre at Caesarea
19 Feb 1948: Attempted assassination of Sheikh Nimr al-Khatib
18 Feb 1948: Egyptian and Jordanian envoys finalize arms deal in office of British minister of state for foreign affairs,
18 Feb 1948: Haganah establish biological warfare laboratory
18 Feb 1948: Palestine Commission reports that partition is impossible without armed force
17 Feb 1948: Leo Isacson beats Democratic Party candidate in Congressional by-election in Bronx, NY
15 Feb 1948: Ethnic cleansing and destruction of Qisarya
13 Feb 1948: Sartre appears as a character witness at the trial of a French Jewish Zionist who is charged with concealing explosives for the Stern Gang
07 Feb 1948: Transjordanian PM and Glubb Pasha secretly meet British FM
01 Feb 1948: Attack on offices of Palestine Post newspaper
Feb 1948: Ethnic cleansing of Lifta completed
28 Jan 1948: Third contingent of 400 ALA volunteers arrive in Palestine
24 Jan 1948: Palestinian Education Council announces that the Palestine Matriculation Examination would start on 30 March, rather than in June as usual
21 Jan 1948: Second contingent of 360 ALA volunteers arrive in Palestine
20 Jan 1948: British administration announces that predominantly Jewish or Arab areas will be gradually handed over to local majority group in each area
16 Jan 1948: The "Convoy of 35" (Lamed Heh) fails to reach Gush Etzion
15 Jan 1948: Anglo-Iraqi treaty signed in Portsmouth
14 Jan 1948: Pre-state Zionists sign arms deal with Czechoslovakia
13 Jan 1948: Postal delivery truck bomb explodes in center of Haifa's Jewish quarter
11 Jan 1948: Hagana attack Lifta again, blowing up most of the houses and driving out the remaining inhabitants
11 Jan 1948: Left-wing Zionists kidnap two Irgun fighters
09 Jan 1948: Palestine Commission created by UN General Assembly resolution to implement Partition Plan held its first meeting at Lake Success
09 Jan 1948: Palestine Commission holds its first meeting at Lake Success
08 Jan 1948: First contingent of 330 Arab Liberation Army volunteers arrives in Palestine
07 Jan 1948: Zionist bomb explodes at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem
05 Jan 1948: Haganah bomb the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem
04 Jan 1948: Stern gang explode a truck bomb in Jaffa; 26 killed and hundreds injured
Jan 1948: Haganah agents purchase 20 Auster light aircraft in Britain
Jan 1948: Stalin orders the murder of the Russian Jewish actor Solomon Mikhoels
Jan 1948: Tel Aviv municipality buys 4,236 dunams of seized Templer property in Sarona from British custodian
Show events (if any) in following year
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