1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine — civil war between the Jewish and Arab communities of Palestine which is the first phase of the 1948 Palestine War
The 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine was the opening phase of the broader 1948 Palestine War, directly preceding the establishment of the State of Israel.
Key Facts
- Start date
- 29 November 1947
- End date
- 14 May 1948
- Trigger
- UN General Assembly adoption of Partition Plan for Palestine
- Key offensive
- Plan Dalet, launched April 1948
- Notable atrocity
- Deir Yassin massacre
- Escalation
- Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria invaded on 14 May 1948
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 181, recommending a partition plan for Palestine. This decision inflamed tensions between the territory's Jewish and Arab communities, who held incompatible visions for Palestine's political future, and immediately triggered armed conflict between them.
Jewish and Arab communities fought across Mandatory Palestine from late November 1947 through May 1948, with the Arab side supported by the Arab Liberation Army. British authorities, focused on their own withdrawal, intervened only occasionally. In April 1948, Zionist forces launched Plan Dalet, seizing cities and territories and greatly accelerating Palestinian displacement, including through massacres such as at Deir Yassin.
When the British Mandate expired on 14 May 1948 and Israel declared independence, neighboring Arab states—Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, and Syria—invaded immediately, transforming the civil war into the wider 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The civil war phase also produced the mass displacement of Palestinian Arabs, a defining and long-lasting humanitarian and political consequence of the conflict.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
2 belligerents