List of killings and massacres in the British Mandate for Palestine

This is a list of massacres committed during the Palestine Mandate era. It is restricted to incidents in which at least 3 people were deliberately killed. This list does not include unlawful deaths due to criminal activity. It includes all casualties that resulted from the initial attack on civilians or non-combat military personnel.

Note: The designation "responsible party" below refers to those believed to be the principle instigators of the violence. Where culpability is disputed or ambiguous, the sources cited support the chosen designation.

List of killings and massacres committed in Mandate Palestine

Name Date Responsible party Casualties/notes
Tel Hai March 1, 1920 Debatable. Either the Jews or the Arabs. 8 Jews killed;[1] 5 Arabs killed. Historian Tom Segev states in his book One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate, that Yosef Trumpeldor may have opened fire.
Nebi Musa riots April 4- April 7, 1920 Arabs 5 Jews, 4 Arabs killed; 216 Jews, 18 Arabs, 7 Britons wounded [1][2][3]
Jaffa riots and attacks by Arabs on Rehovot, Petah Tikva, Kfar Sava, Hadera May 1- May 7, 1921 Arabs, British authorities and police 48 Arabs, 45 Jews killed; 140 Jews, 73 Arabs wounded, after May Day clash between Jewish and Arab socialists Arabs attacked to Jewish population[1][2][3][4]
Hebron massacre August 23- August 26, 1929 Arabs 133 Jews, 116 Arabs killed; 339 Jews, 232 Arabs wounded [5] [1][2][3][6]
Safed massacre August 29, 1929 Arabs, British police (stayed passive) 18-20 Jews killed; 80 Jews wounded [6]
Labor Strike Revolt April 15- October 12, 1936 Arabs, Jews, British authorities 138 Arabs, 80 Jews, 33 British killed [1]
1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine September 27, 1937 - 1939 Arabs, Jews, British authorities 5,000 Arabs, 415 Jews, several hundred Britons killed [1]
King David Hotel bombing July 22, 1946 Irgun 91 killed, including 41 Arabs, 28 Britons, and 17 Jews; 40-45 wounded [7][8]
N/A December 13, 1947 Irgun 16 Arabs killed; 67 Arabs wounded from bombings in Jerusalem and Jaffa; Irgun also burns down 100 Arab homes in Jaffa [1]
N/A (See Beit Nabala) December 14, 1947 Arab Legion 13 Jews killed (some sources say 14); 9 Jews, 2 Britons, 1 Arab wounded in attack on military convoy near Lydda [1]
al-Khisas December 18, 1947 Haganah 10 Arabs killed [1]
N/A December 24, 1947 Arab snipers, Jewish militants 4 Jews killed in Haifa by snipers, 4 Arabs killed in reprisals [1]
N/A December 26, 1947 Arab militants 7 Jews killed while driving in convoy to Jerusalem [1]
N/A December 28, 1947 Arab Snipers, Jewish militants 5 Jews killed in Bab el Wad by snipers, 5 Arabs killed in reprisals [1]
N/A December 29, 1947 Arab militants, Irgun 4 Jews killed in Tel Aviv from mortar and sniper fire, 13 Arabs killed in Jerusalem in Irgun bombing [1][1]
Bomb thrown on Damascus Gate Café in Jerusalem December 29, 1947 Irgun 11 Arabs, 2 Britons killed [1][9] Uri Milstein reported 15 casualties from the bombing in the Palestine Post.[10]
Haifa Oil Refinery December 30, 1947 Irgun, Arabs 6 Arabs were killed at the refinery entrance in Haifa in an Irgun bombing, sparking a riot among the workers in which 39 Jews killed[1]
Balad al-Shaykh January 1, 1948 Palmach 17 - 70 Arabs killed in Haifa [1]
N/A January 3, 1948 Arab militants 4 Jews killed in Haifa [1]
N/A January 3, 1948 Arab militants 3 Jews, 1 Briton killed in Jerusalem [1]
Bombing of Arab National Committee HQ January 4, 1948 Stern Gang 14 Arabs killed; 100 Arabs wounded [9]
Semiramis Hotel bombing January 5, 1948 Haganah 20 Arabs killed in Jerusalem [11]
N/A January 5, 1948 Arabs, Jews 4 Arabs killed after attacking Jewish quarter in Safed [1]
Jaffa Gate bombing in Jerusalem January 7, 1948 Irgun 15 - 20 Arabs killed [1][12]
N/A January 9, 1948 Arab militants 35 Jews killed near Kfar Etzion [1]
N/A January 10, 1948 Arab militants 11 Jews killed, 1 decapitated near Yavne [1]
N/A January 14, 1948 Arab militants 7 Jews, 2 Britons killed in Haifa [1]
N/A January 20, 1948 Arab militants 8 Jews killed in Yehiam [1]
N/A January 22, 1948 Arab militants 7 Jews killed near Yazur [1]
N/A January 25, 1948 Arab militants 10 Jews killed [1]
N/A January 27, 1948 British soldiers 4 Arabs killed in Gaza [1]
N/A Feb 3, 1948 Arab militants 6 Jews killed while riding buses in Haifa [1]
N/A Feb 7, 1948 Arabs, Jews 3 Arabs, 3 Jews killed in Haifa [1]
N/A Feb 8, 1948 Arabs 6 Jews killed in Jerusalem [1]
N/A Feb 8, 1948 Arab militants 3 Jews killed in Tel Aviv [1]
N/A Feb 12, 1948 Arabs 4 Jews killed in Jerusalem [1]
N/A Feb 15, 1948 Arab militants, Jewish militants 5 Arabs, 3 Jews killed [1]
Sa'sa' village ambush in the Safad district February 14, 1948 Palmach 11 Arabs killed[13]
N/A Feb 17, 1948 Arab militants, Jewish militants 5 Arabs, 3 Jews killed [1]
N/A Feb 17, 1948 Arab militants 57 Arabs killed while taking part in attack on Jewish settlements Tirat Tzvi, Sde Eliahu, Ein HaNatziv [1]
Ramla vegetable market bombing 18 February 1948 Irgun 12 killed, 43 wounded [14]
N/A Feb 19, 1948 Arab militants 4 Jews killed while riding buses in Haifa [1]
N/A Feb 21, 1948 Jewish militants 4 Arabs killed in Haifa [1]
Ben Yehuda Street bombing Feb 23, 1948 Arab militants, British deserters 55 Jews killed [1]
N/A Feb 25, 1948 Arab militants 3 Jews killed on road between Ramle and Tel Aviv [1]
N/A Feb 28, 1948 Arab militants 6 Arabs, 1 Jew killed during attack on Jewish village Kfar Sava [1]
N/A Feb 18, 1948 Arab militants 4 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish settlement Mitzpe [1]
Rehovot Train bombing March 1, 1948 Jewish militants 28 Britons killed [1]
Bevingrad Officers Club bombing March 1, 1948 Irgun 20 Britons killed; 30 Britons wounded [2]
N/A March 1, 1948 Arab militants 4 Jews killed on Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road [1]
N/A March 2, 1948 Arab militants 6 Arabs, 3 Jews killed during Arab attack on Tel-Aviv Jerusalem road [1]
N/A March 4, 1948 Arab militants 16 Jews killed on Jerusalem-Atarot road [1]
N/A March 9, 1948 Arab militants 3 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish settlement Yehiam [1]
N/A March 11, 1948 Jews, Arabs 4 Arabs, 1 Jew killed in Tiberius [1]
Jewish Agency bombing March 11, 1948 Arab militants 13 Jews killed [1]
N/A March 14, 1948 Arab militants 7 Jews killed near Faluja [1]
N/A March 14, 1948 Jews, Arabs 4 Arabs, 1 Jew killed in Tiberius [1]
N/A March 18, 1948 Arab militants 5 Britons, 4 Jews killed in convoy near Acre [1]
N/A March 20, 1948 Arabs 7 Jews killed at Ein Harod [1]
N/A March 21, 1948 Arabs 6 Jews killed on Rosh Pinna-Safed road [1]
N/A March 22, 1948 Arab militants 4 Jews, 20 Arabs during attack on Jewish settlement Nitzanim [1]
N/A March 24, 1948 Jewish militants 36 Arabs killed near Tulkarem [1]
N/A March 26, 1948 Arab militants 6 Arabs, 2 Jews killed in attack on Jewish convoy near Gaza [1]
N/A March 28, 1948 Arab militants 6 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish convoy near Rehovot [1]
N/A March 28, 1948 Arab militants 6 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish convoy near Safed [1]
Cairo-Haifa train bombing March 31, 1948 Lehi 40 Arabs killed; 60 Arabs wounded [1]
Massacre in an orange grove in Lydda 1 April 1948 Jewish militias 11 Arab laborers killed [15]
Deir Yassin April 9, 1948 Irgun ~ 100 Arabs killed [16][17][18]
Hadassah medical convoy April 13, 1948 Arab militants 78 Jews (nurses, doctors, and patients) killed [19][20]
Cairo-Haifa Train bombing April 23, 1948 Lehi 8 Britons killed; 27 Britons wounded [2]
Sorona Police Station bombing April 25, 1948 Lehi 4 Britons killed [2]
Ein al Zeitun May 3, 1948 Palmach 37 - 70 Arab prisoners
Kfar Etzion May 13, 1948 Arab militants and Arab Legion 127-157 Jews killed [1]
Abu Shusha May 14, 1948 Israeli 60

See also

This article is part of the
Arab–Israeli conflict series.
History
Views on the conflict
Media coverage
International law
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Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Arab League
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Israel, Palestine and the United Nations
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References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi Gilbert, Martin (2005). Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Routledge. ISBN 0415359015. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bard, Mitchell G., PhD (2005). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. Alpha. ISBN 1592574106. 
  3. ^ a b c Segev, Tom (2001). One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate. Owl Books. ISBN 0805065873. 
  4. ^ Haycraft Commission of Inquiry
  5. ^ [http://avo.co.il/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=2765 'Communal relations - Jewish and Arab in the city of Hebron' (2005) (Hebrew)
  6. ^ a b Shaw Report
  7. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  8. ^ The Irgun Site
  9. ^ a b Jewish Virtual Library
  10. ^ Uri Milstein (30 December 1947). "History of Israel's War of Independence". Palestine Post II: 51. 
  11. ^ Archives of The International Herald Tribune
  12. ^ Uri Milstein (9 January 1948). "History of Israel's War of Independence". Palestine Post III: 95–96. 
  13. ^ Khalidi, Walid (2006). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Institute for Palestine Studies. pp. 496. ISBN 0887283063 (pbk.). 
  14. ^ Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem
  15. ^ Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem
  16. ^ Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin," Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press, 1987)
  17. ^ Morris, Benny (2004). "Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April—June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon". The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. page 238. ISBN 0-521-81120-1; ISBN 0-521-00967-7 (pbk.). 
  18. ^ Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987]. "Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre" (in Hebrew, English version translated and edited by Alan Sacks). History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc.. pp. page 377. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2. 
  19. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  20. ^ Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987]. "Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 16: Brutality and Hypocrisy" (in Hebrew, English version translated and edited by Alan Sacks). History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc.. pp. page 387. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2. 
Arab–Israeli armed engagements
Before 1947

1920 Nebi Musa riots · 1921 Jaffa riots · 1929 Hebron–Safed riots · 1933 Palestine riots · 1936–1939 Arab revolt ·
1947–1949

1947 Jerusalem riots · 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine · 1948–1949 Arab–Israeli War
1950s
1960s

1962–1970 Operations Porcupine and Gravy (North Yemen Civil War) · 1964–1967 War over Water · 1966 Samu incident · 1967 Six-Day War · 1967–1970 War of Attrition · 1968 Battle of Karameh · 1968 Operation Gift 1969 Cherbourg Project
1970s

1970 Shelling on Lebanon · 1970 Black September in Jordan · 1972 Sabena Flight 571 (Operation Isotope) · 1972 Lod Airport massacre · 1972 Operation Crate 3 · 1972 Munich Olympics massacre · 1972–1979 Operation Wrath of God (Airstrike · Spring of Youth) · 1973 Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 · 1973 Yom Kippur War · 1974 Ma'alot massacre · 1974 Airstrike on Lebanon · 1975 Savoy Operation · 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War · 1976 Operation Entebbe · 1978 Coastal Road massacre · 1978 Operation Litani
1980s

1980 Misgav Am hostage crisis · 1981 Operation Opera · 1982 Damour Airstrike · 1982 Lebanon War · 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict · 1984 Kav 300 affair · 1985 PLO ships bombing · 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking · 1985 Operation Wooden Leg · 1987–1993 First Intifada · 1988 Mothers' Bus rescue · 1988 Tunis raid · 1989 Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid kidnapping
1990s
2000s

2000–2005 Al-Aqsa Intifada (Second Intifada) · 2000 October events · 2000–2006 Shebaa Farms conflict · 2001–present Rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel (2001-2006 · 2007 · 2008 · Gaza War · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012) · 2001 Santorini · 2002 Operation Noah's Ark · 2002 Operation Defensive Shield (Jenin · Nablus · Bethlehem) · 2002–present West Bank barrier · 2002 Operation Determined Path · 2003 Abu Hasan · 2003 Ain es Saheb airstrike · 2004 Israel–Gaza conflict (Operation Rainbow · Operation Days of Penitence) · 2005 Operation Shevet Ahim · 2006–2011 Fatah–Hamas conflict · 2006 Operation Bringing Home the Goods · 2006 Israel–Gaza conflict (Operation Autumn Clouds) · 2006 Lebanon War · 2007–present Lebanese rockets · 2007–2008 Israel–Gaza conflict (Operation Hot Winter) · 2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip · 2007–present Blockade of the Gaza Strip · 2007 Operation Orchard · 2008–2009 Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead) · 2009 Sudan airstrikes · 2009 Francop affair (Operation Four Species)
2010s
Topics and concepts
Schools of ideology
Organizations
History
Figures
Abba Ahimeir · Chaim Arlosoroff · David Ben-Gurion · David Baazov · Meir Bar-Ilan · Menachem Begin · Hugo Bergman · Dov Ber Borochov · Nathan Birnbaum · Max Bodenheimer · Max Brod · Abba Eban · Albert Einstein · Israel Eldad · Aaron David Gordon · Uri Zvi Greenberg · Dov Gruner · Theodor Herzl · Arthur Hertzberg · Moses Hess · Ahad Ha'am · Zeev Jabotinsky · Rabbi Meir Kahane · Berl Katznelson · Abraham Isaac Kook · Moshe Leib Lilienblum · Golda Meir · Nahum Goldmann · Samuel Mohilever · Max Nordau · Leon Pinsker · David Raziel · Arthur Ruppin · Pinhas Rutenberg · Solomon Schechter · Moshe Sharett · Nahum Syrkin · Abraham Stern · Yitzhak Tabenkin · Joseph Trumpeldor · Menahem Ussishkin · Chaim Weizmann · Felix Weltsch · Robert Weltsch · Orde Wingate · Israel Zangwill
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