Battle of Haifa (1948)

Battle of Haifa
Part of the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the Nakba, and Plan Dalet

Zionist militants in Haifa
Date21–22 April 1948
Location
Result

Haganah victory

  • Zionist forces take control of the city, which would go on to become a part of the State of Israel
  • ~15,000 Arab residents expelled
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Moshe Carmel
Mordechai Maklef
Capt. Amin Bey Izz al-Din
Yunnis Naffa

The Battle of Haifa, also known as the Fall of Haifa, and called by the Jewish forces Operation Bi'ur Hametz (Hebrew: מבצע ביעור חמץ "Passover Cleansing"), was a Haganah operation carried out on 21–22 April 1948 and a major event in the final stages of the civil war in Palestine, leading up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The objective of the operation was the capture of the Arab neighborhoods of Haifa. The operation formed part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, with approximately 15,000 Arab residents being displaced between April 21–22, and with only 4,000 remaining in the city by mid-May from a pre-conflict population of approximately 65,000.