Israeli War of Independence 1948-1949

The United Nations (UN) sponsored plan to partition Palestine was bitterly opposed by Palestinian Arabs and the Arab states bordering the territory. Near open warfare was underway in Palestine before the end of 1947: the Arab-Palestinian armed forces included the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) and the Army of Salvation; Jewish-Palestinian armed forces included the Haganah, Palmach, Irgun and the Stern Gang. Fighting escalated after the British withdrawal in April. With substantial military and civilian losses on both sides, the Jewish-Palestinians had largely defeated the Arab-Palestinians by the time partition approached, primarily through mobilizing a far larger percentage of their supporting population for war. On May 15, 1948, the day after an independent state of Israel was proclaimed, elements of the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan (as Jordan was then known) invaded Palestine with support of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Initially, Israel fielded an army of 34,400 troops against the combined Arab forces numbering 42,000 troops.

In Galilee, Lebanese and Syrian forces, with support from the ALA, were contained by Israelis. Iraqi troops attacking north of Jerusalem, in Samaria, achieved battlefield victories but failed to exploit their success. The well-disciplined and organized Transjordanian Arab Legion captured the Jewish quarter in the old city of Jerusalem and blocked the Israeli line of communication with the Jerusalem at Latrun, where several Israeli attacks failed to dislodge the Arab Legion. Egyptian forces invaded the Negev and approached Tel Aviv before being checked and prevented from linking up with the Arab Legion. A UN-sponsored truce took effect on June 11th.

The brief period of relative quiet allowed the Israelis to build up their armed strength to 49,000 before fighting resumed. On July 9th the Israelis took the offensive. In the north, they failed to overcome Syrian forces but effectively destroyed the combat power of the ALA. In the center, the Arab Legion continued to hold Latrun but Israeli forces capture Ramla and Lydda before another truce was imposed on July 18th and it continued from almost three months.

Fighting resumed on October 15th. By then, Israeli mobilization under the provisional government had raised troop strength to about 100,000. Israel now attacked Egyptian forces in the south where Beersheba fell on October 21st, trapping some 3,000 Egyptian troops in the Faluja Pocket and dislodging the Egyptian defensive line. Attempts to relieve the trapped Egyptians failed. Meanwhile, Transjordan negotiated a truce with Israel on October 31st and Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria tacitly agreed. By late December the Egypt army had been forced back to the Sinai; Egypt agreed to a truce on January 7, 1949.

The Arab states negotiated separate armistice agreements. Egypt was the first to sign in February 1949, Lebanon followed in March, Transjordan in April, and finally Syria in July. Iraq simply withdrew its forces without signing an agreement. As a result of the war, Israel considerably expanded its territory beyond the United Nations partition plan for Palestine at the expense of its Arab neighbors. Some 700,000 Palestinian Arabs had fled during the war and ended up in refugee camps, some of which continue to exist to the present day.

References

Clodfelter, 1032-6; COW148; Israel - A Country Study; Kohn, 26-7.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

West Asia

Belligerents

Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestinians, Syria, Transjordan

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

May 15, 1948

Termination Date

January 7, 1949

Duration

7 months, 24 days
(238 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce

Fatalities

Total: 8,000
Israel: 3,000
Egypt: 2,000
Syria: 1,000
Lebanon: 500
Transjordan: 1,000
Iraq: 500
Palestinians: unknown

Magnitude

3.9