Operation Dani, also spelled Danny, was an Israeli military offensive launched on July 9–19, 1948 at the end of the first truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The objectives were to capture territory east of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and then to push inland and relieve the Jewish population and forces in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. The main forces fighting against the IDF were the Arab Legion and Palestinian irregulars On 10 July, Glubb Pasha ordered the defending Arab Legion troops to "make arrangements ... for a phony war". The operation commander was Yigal Allon and his deputy was Yitzhak Rabin. The total force numbered around 6,000 soldiers.

Name

The operation was named after Palmach officer Daniel "Dani" Mass, who had fallen on January 16, 1948, while commanding a relief action known as "

Convoy of 35 The Convoy of 35 (or the Lamed He, which stands for "thirty five" in Hebrew numerals), was a convoy of Haganah and Palmach fighters sent during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on a mission to reach by foot and resupply the blockad ...

Objectives

The first phase of Operation Dani was to capture the cities of Lydda and Ramle, located on the road to

, southeast of

. Ramle was one of the main obstacles blocking Jewish transportation. From the start of the war, Lydda and Ramle militiamen had attacked Jewish traffic on nearby roads. Ramle became a focal point for blocking Jewish transportation, forcing traffic from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to a southern bypass. The second phase was to capture the fort at Latrun and break through

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. The operation was carried out under Palmach command using the

Yiftach Brigade The 11th Brigade (also known as the Yiftach Brigade) is a reserves unit in the Israel Defense Forces, composed mainly of fighters that completed their compulsory service in the Egoz Unit, Unit 621 – 'Egoz'. History In the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

, the Harel Brigade, the 8th Armored Brigade and two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s from the Kiryati and Alexandroni

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

Lydda and Ramle

On 9 July units from the

began approaching Ramle from the south. At the same time troops from the other brigades began attacking villages north of Lydda. Caught in a pincer movement and with only a token Arab Legion presence the two towns were captured the following day. This put Lydda airport and the strategic railway station at Ramle in Israeli hands. As part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsions, Israeli forces violently expelled 50,000-70,000 people from Lydda and Ramle, killing hundreds.

Latrun

The second phase of the operation failed after several costly attacks on Arab Legion positions in the Battle of Latrun and the threat of a UN-imposed cease-fire.

Casualties

The Palmach record the names of ninety-one of its members killed during this Operation. Forty-four were killed at Khirbet Kurikur on 18 July 1948. Seven were killed in the capture of Lydda.

Palestinian Arab communities captured

Units

* Overall Commander: Yigal Allon * 8th Armored Brigade Commander Yitzhak Sadeh * Alexandroni Brigade * Kiryati Brigade (two battalions) *

Commander Mula CohenMoshe Dayan, 'My Life.' (1976). Page 103.

Gallery

Itzhak Sade Yigal Alon.jpg, Yitzhak Sadeh (left) and Yigal Allon (1948) Palmach Lydda.jpg, 8th Armoured Brigade capture Lydda Airport (1948) File:Yiftach attack.jpg, Yiftach Brigade before the attack on Lydda and Ramle, 1948

References

Notes

External links

* {{Israeli operations in the 1948 war Dani Battles involving Jordan July 1948 in Asia