The massacre of at least 107 Palestinian Arab villagers accelerated the 1948 Palestinian mass exodus and contributed to the outbreak of the Arab–Israeli war.
Key Facts
- Date of attack
- April 9, 1948
- Minimum confirmed killed
- 107 Palestinian Arab villagers
- Current scholarly death toll estimate
- approximately 110
- Primary attackers
- Irgun and Lehi, supported by Haganah and Palmach
- Village resettled
- 1949, became part of Givat Shaul
- Reprisal attack
- Hadassah convoy massacre, April 13, 1948 — 78 Jews killed
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, Zionist paramilitary forces — the Irgun and Lehi — targeted Deir Yassin, a village near Jerusalem that had agreed to a non-aggression pact with its Jewish neighbors. The Haganah authorized and supported the operation, providing ammunition and covering fire despite the village's non-combatant status.
On April 9, 1948, Irgun and Lehi fighters entered Deir Yassin from multiple directions, killing at least 107 villagers including women and children with firearms and grenades while clearing the village house by house. Captives were paraded through West Jerusalem before being executed. Looting was widespread and there may have been cases of mutilation and rape. By the operation's end, all remaining villagers had been expelled.
News of the massacre spread rapidly, terrifying Palestinians across the country and accelerating mass flight from their homes. The event strengthened Arab governments' resolve to intervene militarily, which they did five weeks later, initiating the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. The Jewish Agency publicly condemned the attack while privately sending an apology to King Abdullah, who rejected it. The village was resettled by Israelis in 1949.