Civil War in Palestine (1947–48) | ||||||||
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Part of the 1948 Palestine War | ||||||||
Jewish militants at Katamon, Jerusalem. |
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Belligerents | ||||||||
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Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
David Ben-Gurion Yaakov Dori Yigael Yadin Yigal Allon Menachem Begin |
Fawzi al-Qawuqji Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni † |
Gordon MacMillan | ||||||
Strength | ||||||||
15,000 (start) 35,000 (end) |
A few thousands | ~70,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | ||||||||
1 April : 895 15 May : ~ 2,000 |
1 April : 991 | 125 dead less than 300 injured |
The 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine was the first phase of the 1948 Palestine war. It broke out after the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption of the Partition Plan for Palestine.
During the civil war, the Jewish and Arab communities of Palestine clashed (the latter supported by the Arab Liberation Army) while the British, who had the obligation to maintain order, organized their withdrawal and intervened only on an occasional basis.
When the British Mandate of Palestine expired on 14 May 1948, and with the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, the surrounding Arab states, Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq and Syria invaded what had just ceased to be Mandatory Palestine, and immediately attacked Israeli forces and several Jewish settlements. The conflict then turned into the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.