Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
(IDF) during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...
. It was led by General
Moshe Carmel
Moshe Carmel ( he, משה כרמל, 17 January 1911 – 14 August 2003) was an Israeli soldier and politician who served as Transportation Minister of Israel, Minister of Transportation for eight years.
Background
Born in Mińsk Mazowiecki in ...
, and aimed at capturing the
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mounta ...
region from the
Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army (ALA; ar, جيش الإنقاذ العربي ''Jaysh al-Inqadh al-Arabi''), also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji. It fought on the Arab side in the ...
(ALA) forces led by
Fawzi al-Qawuqji
Fawzi al-Qawuqji ( ar, فوزي القاوقجي; 19 January 1890 – 5 June 1977) was a leading Arab nationalist military figure in the interwar period.The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives, by Gilbert Achcar, (NY: Hen ...
and a
Syrian
Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...
battalion. The operation, which lasted 60 hours (October 29–31), was marked by heavy
fighting between Arabs and Jews, and ended just before the ceasefire with the neighboring
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
countries went into effect.
As a result of the operation, the Upper Galilee, originally slated by the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
partition plan to be part of an
Arab state, would be controlled by the newly formed state of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and more than 50,000 new
Palestinian refugees
Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War ( 1967 Palestinian exodu ...
were expelled from their homes.
[Morris (2004), p. 473]
Overview
On 18 July, the second truce of the conflict went into effect. On September 26, 1948,
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
told his
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
that if fighting should be renewed in the north, then the
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
would become "clean"
'naki''and "empty"
'reik''of Arabs, and implied that he had been assured of this by his generals.
Before dawn on 22 October ALA violated the truce when it stormed the
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
*Irish Defence Forces
*Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
*Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
*Israeli Diving Federation
*Interaction ...
hilltop position of Sheikh Abd, overlooking
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
Manara from the north. During the 24–25 October, ALA troops regularly sniped at Manara and at traffic along the main road.
Fawzi al-Qawuqji
Fawzi al-Qawuqji ( ar, فوزي القاوقجي; 19 January 1890 – 5 June 1977) was a leading Arab nationalist military figure in the interwar period.The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives, by Gilbert Achcar, (NY: Hen ...
demanded that Israel evacuate neighboring kibbutz
Yiftah and thin out its forces in Manara. Israel, in turn, demanded the ALA’s withdrawal from the captured positions and, after a “no” from Qawuqji, informed the United Nations that it felt free to do as it pleased.
The operation was launched on the night of 28–29 October 1948, fielding four IDF brigades,
the Seventh,
Carmeli Brigade,
Golani, and the
Oded Brigade
The Oded Brigade ( he, חטיבת עודד), is a unit in the Israel Defense Forces, also known as the 9th Brigade. It is part of the Bashan division in the IDF Northern Command, responsible for the front with Syria. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, ...
. The operational order was "to destroy the enemy in the central Galilee "pocket", to occupy the whole of the Galilee and to establish the defense line on the country´s northern border."
On October 29,
Yosef Weitz
Yosef Weitz ( he, יוסף ויץ; 1890–1972) was the director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund (JNF). From the 1930s, Weitz played a major role in acquiring land for the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community ...
, learning about the start of the operation, sent
Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin ( he, יִגָּאֵל יָדִין ) (20 March 1917 – 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, soldier and politician. He was the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1981.
B ...
a note urging that the army should expel the "refugees" from the newly conquered areas.
The Ground offensive was preceded by bombing raids targeting
Tarshiha,
Jish
Jish ( ar, الجش; he, גִ'שׁ, גּוּשׁ חָלָב, Jish, Gush Halav) is a local council in Upper Galilee, located on the northeastern slopes of Mount Meron, north of Safed, in Israel's Northern District. In it had a population of , ...
and
Sa'sa from the 22 October, using
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...
es and
Douglas C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...
s (converted for bombing role). The heaviest night of bombing was 29/30 October when 13 missions dropped 21 tons of bombs on the seven villages. The bombardment of Tarshiha triggered the mass flight after 24 of the inhabitants were killed and approximately 60 were buried under rubble.
[Morris (2004) p. 473]
The initial thrust was carried out by the Seventh Brigade advancing from
Safad
Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an eleva ...
. The Seventh Brigade occupied
Qaddita
Qaddita ( ar, قدّيتا, transliteration: ''Qaddîtâ'') was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village of 240, located northwest of Safad. It was captured and depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, with some of its inhabitants expelled ...
on 29 October,
Meirun and then
Safsaf and Jish. In the 79th Battalion's report, the battles for Safsaf and Jish were described as "difficult" and "cruel" (''achzari''). One IDF report said "150–200" Arabs, "including a number of civilians" died in the battle for Jish. Other accounts report that 200 bodies were found around Jish and 80 at Meirum. After Safsaf had been captured the Israeli troops committed a
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
.
From Jish, the 72nd and 79th battalions then turned west to take Sa'sa. After taking Sa'sa the Israeli forces then turned northwest taking
Kfar Birem,
Saliha and by the afternoon of the 30 October were at
al Malikiya.
Simultaneously, the Golani Brigade engaged in diversionary tactics in the direction of the village of
Illaboun. The Carmeli Brigade, which was assigned to counter attacks from
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
, crossed the border into Lebanon, captured 15 villages, and reached the
Litani River
The Litani River ( ar, نهر الليطاني, Nahr al-Līṭānī), the classical Leontes ( grc-gre, Λέοντες, Léontes, lions), is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley, west of B ...
. General Carmel had received direct permission from Prime Minister Ben Gurion to enter Lebanon, but only as far as the river. In the final hours of the offensive Carmel's second-in-command, General
Makleff, met Ben Gurion in
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
and requested permission to advance and occupy
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
which he claimed could be reached in twelve hours. Fearing international condemnation Ben Gurion refused.
Ceasefire was scheduled to commence at 11:00 hours, October 31, 1948. The same day, at 7:30 in the morning, Major General
Moshe Carmel
Moshe Carmel ( he, משה כרמל, 17 January 1911 – 14 August 2003) was an Israeli soldier and politician who served as Transportation Minister of Israel, Minister of Transportation for eight years.
Background
Born in Mińsk Mazowiecki in ...
ordered his brigades and district commanders "to continue the clearing operations inside the Galilee". In a cable dated 10:00 hours the same day Carmel ordered his brigades and district commanders: "Do all in your power for a quick and immediate clearing
'tihur''of the conquered areas of all the hostile elements in line with the orders that have been issued
The inhabitants of the areas conquered should be assisted to leave." This order was apparently issued after Carmel had met with Ben-Gurion the same day.
On 31 October and 1 November 1948 the
Hula massacre
The Hula massacre took place between 31 October and 1 November 1948. Hula is a village in Lebanon 3 km west of Kibbutz Manara, not far from the Litani River. It was captured on October 24 by the Carmeli Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces w ...
took place at the Lebanese village of
Hula (Hule). The village had been captured on October 24 by the Carmeli Brigade without any resistance at all. Between 35 and 58 captured men were reportedly shot down in a house which was later blown up on top of them.
At the end of this lightning attack, Israeli forces reached the
Hiram Junction, north of Safed. The siege of Manara was lifted, Qawuqji's army fled to Lebanon, and the roads crossing the Upper Galilee were secured. With the Galilee under Israeli control, the IDF established a defensive line along the Litani before withdrawing to the
Lebanese border under the terms of the
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,[Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...](_blank)
bombings caused considerable damage to the villages in the area.
Ilan Pappe Ilan may refer to:
Organization
* ILAN, Israeli umbrella organization for the treatment of disabled children
Given name
* Ilan (name), a Hebrew/Israeli name
* Ilan Bakhar, a retired Israeli footballer
* Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna, a Brazilian footbal ...
gives the example of the four villages: Rama, Suhmata, Malkiyya and Kfar Bir'im. He states that out of the four 'the only village to remain intact was Rama. The other three were occupied and destroyed'. Very few villagers were allowed to stay in their homes and many were imprisoned or expelled to Lebanon and elsewhere. Ilan Pappe claims that the 'Hebrew noun tihur (cleansing) assumed new meanings' during this time period. He argues that although 'it still described, as before, the total expulsion and destruction of a village, it could now also represent other activities, such as selective search and expulsion operations'.
One Israeli estimate gives a total of 400 Arabs killed during the offensive and 550 taken prisoner.
The name is a reference to
Hiram I
Hiram I ( Phoenician: 𐤇𐤓𐤌 ''Ḥirōm'' "my brother is exalted"; Hebrew: ''Ḥīrām'', Modern Arabic: حيرام, also called ''Hirom'' or ''Huram'')
was the Phoenician king of Tyre according to the Hebrew Bible. His regnal years have b ...
, the Biblical king of Tyre. He was instrumental in the construction of the First Temple of Jerusalem.
Massacres
Around 10 massacres occurred during this two-day operation which coincided with another
mass killing south east of
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
.
According to
Morris, the atrocities committed during Operation Hiram clearly embarrassed the IDF and Israeli officials who were soon forced to respond to Arab and
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
charges in various forums. The main official Israeli response was a flat or qualified denial that atrocities had taken place.
[For examples, see Spector to Baruck, 12 Nov. 1948, in which the IDF liaison officer, Spector, reports to his commander: "In relation to the 13 killed n_the_Eilabun_massacre_.html" ;"title="Eilabun_massacre.html" ;"title="n the Eilabun massacre">n the Eilabun massacre ">Eilabun_massacre.html" ;"title="n the Eilabun massacre">n the Eilabun massacre I proved that the army was not in the village at the time...." Cited in Morris (2004), pp. 481, 501]
Arab communities captured in Operation Hiram
Brigades participating in Operation Hiram
* Carmeli Brigade
* Golani Brigade
* Sheva' Brigade
*
Oded Brigade
The Oded Brigade ( he, חטיבת עודד), is a unit in the Israel Defense Forces, also known as the 9th Brigade. It is part of the Bashan division in the IDF Northern Command, responsible for the front with Syria. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, ...
See also
*
Correcting a Mistake: Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956
*
Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
References
Bibliography
*
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, establish ...
(editor), ''All that remains: the Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948''. (1992). Institute of Palestine Studies. .
*
Benvenisti, Meron (2000).
Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948'. University of California Press. ,
*
Morris, Benny (2004). ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*Nazzal, Nafez (1978): ''The Palestinian Exodus from Galilee 1948'', The Institute for Palestine Studies, (Safsaf, p. 93–96, 107)
*
Ilan Pappé (2006) ''
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine'' Oneworld publications
External links
The sons of Eilaboun tells the story of the human toll that Operation Hiram claimed on in the village Eilaboun.{{Israeli operations in the 1948 war
Hiram
October 1948 events in Asia
1948 in Mandatory Palestine
1948 in Israel