April 25 – May 13, 1948 · Central Palestine Theater
April 25 – May 13, 1948
Irgun forces attack Jaffa — the largest Arab city in Palestine, adjacent to Tel Aviv — with mortar bombardment that kills civilians and causes mass panic. The Haganah, initially opposed to the Irgun operation, joins after British intervention fails. By May 13, the day before independence, Jaffa's Arab population of 70,000 has fled by boat and on foot. A city that had been a center of Arab commerce and culture for centuries is empty.
Commanders