List of killings and massacres in Mandatory Palestine

This is a list of killings and massacres committed in Mandatory Palestine. It is restricted to incidents in which at least three people were deliberately killed. This list does not include unlawful deaths due to criminal activity. It includes all casualties that resulted from the initial attack on civilians or non-combat military personnel.

Individual massacres during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine are listed below. In total, during the course of these events, between September 27, 1937 – 1939, 5,000 Arabs, 415 Jews and several hundred Britons were killed.^{[1][page needed]}

List of killings and massacres committed in Mandate Palestine

Name	Date	Fatalities	notes
Battle of Tel Hai	March 1, 1920	13	8 Jews,[1] 5 Arabs killed[2] Armed Arabs were looking for French soldiers, and Jews mounted armed resistance.
Nebi Musa riots	April 4–7, 1920	9	5 Jews, 4 Arabs killed; 216 Jews, 18 Arabs, 7 Britons wounded[1][3][4] Started by inflammatory language at an Arab rally. Origin of violence uncertain, but a witness reported stone throwing by Arabs.
Jaffa riots	May 1–7, 1921	95	48 Arabs, 47 Jews killed; 140 Jews, 73 Arabs wounded.[5] Began as a fight between two Jewish groups. Arabs joined in because they thought they were being attacked.
Palestine riots of 1929	August 23–29, 1929	249	133 Jews, 116 Arabs killed; 339 Jews, 232 Arabs wounded;[1][3][6][7][8] includes the Hebron massacre (67 Jews killed; 58 Jews wounded and a massacre in Safed (18–20 Jews killed; 80 Jews wounded[8]) Mostly violence by Arabs against Jews; most Arabs killed by Mandate police. Thought triggered by a recent Jewish demonstration.
Black Hand killings at Kibbutz Yagur[9]	April 11, 1931	3	3 jews at Kibbutz Yagur
1931-1932 attacks of the Black Hand[9]	1931-1932	6	6 Jews
1933 Palestine riots in Jaffa [10]	October 27, 1933	16	1 Arab policeman, 15 Arab demonstrators shot by British forces, 1 Arab child hit by a stray bullet.[10]
1933 Palestine riots in Haifa [10]	October 27–28, 1933	4	4 Palestinian rioters killed, 1 policeman stabbed, 3 Palestinian rioters wounded, 5 Jewish civilians injured by rioters, 4 of them seriously.
Jaffa riots (April 1936)	April 19–20, 1936	21	9 Jews killed, 40 Jews wounded (11 critically) in Arab attack in Jaffa. Police killed two attackers. Further 7 Jews and 3 Arabs killed the next day[11][12][13]
Arab General Strike	April 20 – October 12, 1936	314	197 Arabs killed and 823 wounded, 80 Jews killed and 300 wounded, 37 military and police killed and 95 wounded.[14]
NA	August 13, 1937	4	4 members of a Jewish family, 3 children, shot dead by Arabs who broke into their home in Safed[15]
NA	November 9, 1937	5	5 Jewish Keren Kayemet workers killed near Har Haruach by an Arab ambush. Ma'ale HaHamisha was named in their honor.[16]
N/A	March 28, 1938	6	6 Jewish passengers killed by Arabs while traveling from Haifa to Safed.
N/A	August 16, 1938	3	A Jewish family was kidnapped by Arabs in Atlit. 3 killed.[17][18]
1938 Tiberias pogrom	October 2, 1938	19	19 Jews were killed.[19]
N/A	February 27, 1939	33	33 Arabs were killed in multiple attacks, incl. 24 by bomb in Arab market in Suk Quarter of Haifa and 4 by bomb in Arab vegetable market in Jerusalem.[20]
N/A	June 2, 1939	5	5 Arabs were killed by a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.[21][22]
N/A	June 19, 1939	20	20 Arabs were killed by explosives mounted on a donkey at a marketplace in Haifa.[21][23]
Italian Bombing of Tel Aviv	September 9, 1940	137	130 Jews and 7 Arabs killed in a bombing run.[24]
N/A	November 1, 1945	4	5 locomotives destroyed in Lydda station. Two staff, one soldier and one policeman killed. One of the bombers, Yehiel Dresner, was later executed for other crimes.[25]
King David Hotel bombing	July 22, 1946	91	91 killed, including 41 Arabs, 28 Britons, and 17 Jews; 40-45 wounded[26][27]
Fajja bus attacks	November 30, 1947	7	7 Jews killed in two incidents by gunfire[28]
1947 Jerusalem riots	December 2, 1947	14	8 Jews Reported Killed[29][30]
al-Tira	December 12, 1947	13	13 Arabs killed, 10 wounded[31][32]
N/A	December 12, 1947	20	20 killed, 5 wounded by barrel bomb at Damascus Gate.[33]
N/A	December 13, 1947	16	16 Arabs killed; 67 Arabs wounded from bombings in Jerusalem and Jaffa; Irgun also burns down 100 Arab homes in Jaffa[1]
N/A	December 16, 1947	10	10 killed by bomb at Noga Cinema in Jaffa.[34]
al-Khisas massacre	December 18, 1947	10	10 Arabs killed[1]
N/A	December 24, 1947	8	4 Jews killed in Haifa by snipers, 4 Arabs killed in reprisals[1]
N/A	December 26, 1947	7	7 Jews killed while driving in convoy to Jerusalem[1]
N/A	December 28, 1947	10	5 Jews killed in Bab el Wad by snipers, 5 Arabs killed in reprisals[1]
N/A	December 29, 1947	17	4 Jews killed in Tel Aviv from mortar and sniper fire, 13 Arabs killed in Jerusalem in Irgun bombing[1][35]
Bomb thrown on Damascus Gate Café in Jerusalem	December 29, 1947	13	11 Arabs, 2 Britons killed[1][36] Uri Milstein reported 15 casualties from the bombing in the Palestine Post.[37]
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre	December 30, 1947	39	Arabs beat 39 Jews to death and injured 49 after an Irgun bombing which killed 6[1]
Balad al-Shaykh massacre	January 1, 1948	50	17–70 Arabs killed in Haifa[1]
N/A	January 3, 1948	4	3 Jews, 1 Briton killed in Jerusalem[1]
Bombing of Arab National Committee HQ	January 4, 1948	14	14 Arabs killed; 100 Arabs wounded[36]
Semiramis Hotel bombing	January 5, 1948	20	20 Arabs killed in Jerusalem[38]
N/A	January 5, 1948	14	14 Arabs killed and 19 injured by truck bomb outside the 3-storey 'Serrani', Jaffa's built Ottoman Town Hall[39]
N/A	January 5, 1948	4	4 Arabs killed after attacking Jewish quarter in Safed[1]
Jaffa Gate bombing in Jerusalem	January 7, 1948	18	15–20 Arabs killed[1][40]
N/A	January 10, 1948	11	11 Jews killed, 1 decapitated near Yavne[1]
N/A	January 14, 1948	7	7 Jews, 2 Britons killed in Haifa[1]
Convoy of 35	January 15, 1948	35	35 Jewish militants going to resupply blockaded kibbutzim at Gush Etzion attacked near Hebron by Arab militants.[41][1] It is known that the Jewish militants fought back, but there is little of Arab casualties.
N/A	January 20, 1948	8	8 Jews killed in Yehiam[1]
N/A	January 22, 1948	7	7 Jews killed near Yazur[1]
N/A	January 25, 1948	10	10 Jews killed[1]
N/A	January 27, 1948	4	4 Arabs killed in Gaza[1]
N/A	February 3, 1948	6	6 Jews killed while riding buses in Haifa[1]
N/A	February 7, 1948	6	3 Arabs, 3 Jews killed in Haifa[1]
N/A	February 8, 1948	6	6 Jews killed in Jerusalem[1]
N/A	February 8, 1948	3	3 Jews killed in Tel Aviv[1]
N/A	February 10, 1948	7	7 Arabs killed near Ras el Ain after selling cows in Tel Aviv[42]
N/A	February 12, 1948	4	4 Jews killed in Jerusalem[1]
N/A	February 15, 1948	8	5 Arabs, 3 Jews killed[1]
Sa'sa' village ambush in the Safad district	February 14, 1948	11-60	Reports vary from 11 Arabs killed,[43] to 60 Arabs killed.[44] Reported to be revenge for Convoy of 35.
N/A	February 17, 1948	8	5 Arabs, 3 Jews killed[1]
N/A	February 17, 1948	57	57 Arabs killed while taking part in attack on Jewish settlements Tirat Tzvi, Sde Eliahu, Ein HaNatziv[1]
Ramla vegetable market bombing	February 18, 1948	12	12 killed, 43 wounded[45]
N/A	February 19, 1948	4	4 Jews killed while riding buses in Haifa[1]
N/A	February 21, 1948	4	4 Arabs killed in Haifa[1]
Ben Yehuda Street bombing	February 22, 1948	55	55 Jews killed[1]
N/A	February 25, 1948	3	3 Jews killed on road between Ramle and Tel Aviv[1]
N/A	February 28, 1948	7	6 Arabs, 1 Jew killed during attack on Jewish village Kfar Sava[1]
N/A	February 18, 1948	4	4 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish settlement Mitzpe[1]
Rehovot Train bombing	March 1, 1948	28	28 Britons killed[1]
Bevingrad Officers Club bombing	March 1, 1948	20	20 Britons killed; 30 Britons wounded[3]
N/A	March 1, 1948	4	4 Jews killed on Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road[1]
N/A	March 2, 1948	13	10 Arabs, 3 Jews killed during Arab attack on Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road[46]
N/A	March 3, 1948	11	Car bombing in Haifa killed 11 Arabs[47]
N/A	March 4, 1948	16	16 Jews killed on Jerusalem-Atarot road[1]
N/A	March 9, 1948	3	3 Arabs killed while attacking a Jewish settlement Yehiam[1]
N/A	March 11, 1948	5	4 Arabs, 1 Jew killed in Tiberias[1]
Jewish Agency bombing	March 11, 1948	13	13 Jews killed[1]
N/A	March 14, 1948	7	7 Jews killed near Faluja[1]
N/A	March 14, 1948	5	4 Arabs, 1 Jew killed in Tiberias[1]
N/A	March 18, 1948	9	5 Britons, 4 Jews killed in convoy near Acre[1]
N/A	March 20, 1948	7	7 Jews killed at Ein Harod[1]
N/A	March 21, 1948	6	6 Jews killed on Rosh Pinna-Safed road[1]
N/A	March 22, 1948	24	4 Jews, 20 Arabs during attack on Jewish settlement Nitzanim[1]
N/A	March 24, 1948	36	36 Arabs killed near Tulkarem[1]
N/A	March 26, 1948	8	6 Arabs, 2 Jews killed in attack on Jewish convoy near Gaza[1]
N/A	March 28, 1948	6	6 Arabs killed while participating in attack on Jewish convoy near Rehovot[1]
N/A	March 30, 1948	10	8 Jews and 2 British killed while fleeing from Jaffa[1]
Cairo-Haifa train bombing	March 31, 1948	40	40 Arabs killed; 60 Arabs wounded[1]
Massacre in an orange grove in Lydda	April 1, 1948	11	11 Arab laborers killed[48]
NA	April 5, 1948	10	10 Iraqis killed by Jewish militants in Lydda.[49]
Deir Yassin massacre	April 9, 1948	107	100-254 Arabs killed[50][51][52]
Hadassah medical convoy massacre	April 13, 1948	79	78 Jews (nurses, doctors, and patients) and one British soldier killed[53][54]
Ein al Zeitun massacre	May 3, 1948	55	37–70 Arab prisoners
Kfar Etzion massacre	May 13, 1948	129	127–157 Jews killed[1]
Abu Shusha massacre	May 13–14, 1948	60–70+	60–70 Arabs killed

See also

• List of Irgun attacks during the 1930s
• Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War
• List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
• List of massacres in Israel
• List of massacres in the Palestinian territories
• Palestinian political violence
• List of Palestinian suicide attacks

References

1. Gilbert, Martin (2005). Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-35901-5.
2. Segev 2001, p. 122-126.
3. Bard, Mitchell G. (2005). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. Alpha. ISBN 1-59257-410-6.
4. Segev 2001, pp. 137–150.
5. Segev 2001, pp. 173–190.
6. Segev 2001.
7. "Communal relations - Jewish and Arab in the city of Hebron (2005)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
8. Shaw Report
9. Lachman, Shai (1982). "Arab Rebellion and Terrorism in Palestine 1929–1939". In Kedourie, Elie; Haim, Sylvie G. (eds.). Zionism and Arabism in Palestine and Israel. Frank Cass. ISBN 978-0-714-63169-1.
10. "The Murison Commission Report - 4 January 1934 (Historical Text)".
11. "⁨דבר⁩ | עמוד 1 | 20 אפריל 1936 | אוסף העיתונות | הספרייה הלאומית". www.nli.org.il.
12. "⁨דבר⁩ | עמוד 8 | 20 אפריל 1936 | אוסף העיתונות | הספרייה הלאומית". www.nli.org.il.
13. "⁨דבר⁩ | עמוד 2 | 25 יוני 1937 | אוסף העיתונות | הספרייה הלאומית". www.nli.org.il.
14. "Ormsby-Gore on Local Situation". Palestine Post. October 30, 1936. pp. 1, 7.
15. "אזרחים חללי פעולות איבה - חיפוש לפי שם, אירוע או מקום מגורים - חוה אונגר ז"ל". Archived from the original on 2021-03-13. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
16. "אתר ההנצחה לחללי מערכות ישראל". אתר ההנצחה לחללי מערכות ישראל.
17. "אזרחים חללי פעולות איבה - חיפוש לפי שם, אירוע או מקום מגורים - ברוריה ליזרוביץ ז"ל". Archived from the original on 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
18. "אזרחים חללי פעולות איבה - חיפוש לפי שם, אירוע או מקום מגורים - אליהו אליק קירז'נר ז"ל". Archived from the original on 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
19. "Mandate for Palestine - Report of the Mandatory to the LoN (31 December 1938)". domino.un.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2012. Tiber
20. Y. Ben-Ami, Years of Wrath, Days of Glory; Memoirs of the Irgun, Speller and Sons, New York 1982; p 229. Casualty figures from Palestine Post Feb 28, 1939.
21. (in Hebrew)Y. 'Amrami, A. Melitz, דברי הימים למלחמת השחרור ("History of the War of Independence", Shelach Press, 1951).
22. The Irgun web site Archived 2023-05-02 at the Wayback Machine, "The Split within the Irgun" section
23. Palestine Post, June 20–22, 1939
24. "This Week in History: Italy bombs Tel Aviv". jpost.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
25. Horne, Edward (1982). A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920 - 1948). The Anchor Press. OCLC 834452921. Page 289.
26. "Irgun Zvai Leumi | Jewish right-wing underground movement | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 24 September 2023.
27. "THE BOMBING OF THE KING DAVID HOTEL". etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2023-05-01. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
28. "Arab-Israeli wars". Britannica.com.
29. "Jerusalem riots". rarenewspapers.com.
30. http://images.rarenewspapers.com/ebayimgs/6.17.2012/image043.jpg ^{[bare URL image file]}
31. "al-Tira - الطيرة -Haifa - Palestine Remembered".
32. Palestine Post, December 14; Milstein, Vol 11, p91
33. Uri Milstein, History of Israel's War of Independence, Vol II. p51
34. Milstein, Vol II, p81.
35. Milstein, Vol II, p214.
36. "Timeline of British Rule in Palestine (1918-1947)". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
37. Uri Milstein (30 December 1947). "History of Israel's War of Independence". Palestine Post. II: 51.
38. "The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos". www.nytimes.com.
39. The Scotsman newspaper, Jan 6, 1948
40. Uri Milstein (9 January 1948). "History of Israel's War of Independence". Palestine Post. III: 95–96.
41. Dr.Yom-Tov Levinsky מחורבן לחורבן 1956
42. Palestine Post, Feb 13, 1948
43. Khalidi, Walid (2006). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Institute for Palestine Studies. p. 496. ISBN 0-88728-306-3.
44. Benny Morris (2008). 1948. Yale University Press. p. 106.
45. "Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem". Archived from the original on June 20, 2010.
46. Gilbert 2012, p. 40.
47. Bose, Sumantra (2007). Contested Land. Harvard University Press. pp. 230–231. ISBN 9780674028562.
48. "Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem". Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
49. Gilbert 2012, p. 43.
50. Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin," Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press, 1987)
51. Morris, Benny (2004). "Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April—June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon". The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 238. ISBN 0-521-81120-1.
52. Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987]. "Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre". In Alan Sacks (ed.). History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision (in Hebrew and English). Translated by Alan Sacks. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc. p. 377. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2.
53. "Israel | Facts, History, Population, & Map | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 13 September 2023.
54. Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987]. "Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 16: Brutality and Hypocrisy". In Alan Sacks (ed.). History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision (in Hebrew and English). Translated by Alan Sacks. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc. p. 387. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2.

Sources

• Segev, Tom (2001). One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate. Owl Books. ISBN 0-8050-6587-3.
• Gilbert, Martin (2012). The Routledge Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-69975-4.