1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions
Continuation of the 1948 Palestinian exodus / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions were a continuation of the 1948 expulsion and flight of Palestinian Arabs from Israeli-controlled territory that occurred after the signing of the 1949 ceasefire agreements.[1][2][3][4] This period of the exodus[5] was characterised predominantly by forced expulsion during the consolidation of the state of Israel and the growing tension along ceasefire lines that ultimately lead to the 1956 Suez Crisis.[6]
Between 1949 and 1950, according to historian Benny Morris, Israel displaced and expelled between 30,000 and 40,000 Palestinians and Bedouin.[7] Many villages along the ceasefire lines and the Lebanon border area were leveled, and many emptied villages were resettled by new Jewish immigrants and demobilized Israeli military forces.[8][9]
Israel argued this was motivated by security considerations linked with the situation at the borders. During the consolidation period, Israel was more intent on gaining control of the demilitarized zones on the Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian fronts than on its image abroad.[10][11][12][13]