Al-Khisas Raid

The al-Khisas raid, also known as the al-Khisas massacre, was an attack on the Palestinian village of al-Khisas carried out by the Palmach on December 18, 1947, during the 1948 Palestine war. 10-15 Palestinian villagers were killed in the attack, including 5 children.

Background

The attack took place during the civil war phase of the 1948 Palestine war and was conducted as a reprisal for the killing of a Jewish man near Al-Khisas. Local Palmach commanders decided to launch a retaliatory attack on the village, arguing that "if there was no reaction to the murder, the Arabs would interpret this as a sign of weakness and an invitation to further attacks". The Haganah High Command approved the action on condition that the attack be directed against "men only and they should burn nlya few houses".

The attack

The massacre was carried out by the Palmach's 3rd Battalion, which later became part of the Yiftach Brigade.

According to Haim Levenberg:

One unit attacked with hand-grenades a four-roomed house killing two men and five children, and wounding five other men. At the same time, another unit attacked a house in the village owned by Amir Al-Fa’ur of Syria, in which one Syrian and two Lebanese peasants were killed and another Lebanese and two local men were wounded. According to HQ British Troops in Palestine, the villagers did not use any firearms to defend themselves.

10-15 Palestinian villagers were killed in the attack, 5 of them children.

Aftermath and reactions

Following the attack a large number of al-Khisas' residents fled their homes, becoming a part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.

The events led to an escalation in violence that rapidly spread through the Upper Galilee region; the region had generally been quiet before the massacre, which was blamed for unnecessarily widening the hostilities.

The Jewish leadership at the time sharply criticized the attack. Three weeks later, Arab forces crossed the Syrian border and carried out a reprisal attack on the kibbutz Kfar Szold, but suffered heavy losses and were repulsed.

On 1 January 1948, David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary about the attack, stating:

"The question is not if there is a necessity to retaliate ... We need strong and harsh retaliation ... When the family is known, we must be merciless in hitting them; including women and children, or our retaliation will not be efficient. No need to differentiate ... between the guilty and the innocent."

During the operation a female member of the battalion had refused to throw a grenade into a room in which she could hear a child crying; following the event the battalion's commander Moshe Kelman argued that women should not be used on front line duties but should be used as "cooks and service people."

On the night of 5 June 1949, the remaining inhabitants of Khisas were forcibly expelled as part of the 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions.Benny Morris, ''1948 and After'' (1990), page 200 Some time after the village was destroyed.

See also

*Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine war

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khisas raid, Al-
1947 in Mandatory Palestine
Massacres in 1947
1947 fires
Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1947
December 1947 in Asia
1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine
Arson in the 1940s
1940s fires in Asia
Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1940s
Massacres in Mandatory Palestine
Massacres of Palestinians
Israeli massacres of Palestinians
Violence against men in Asia
Haganah attacks
Arson in Asia
Raids of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
District of Safad
Grenade attacks in Israel