List of Killings and Massacres Carried Out by Israel on the Palestinian People
This is a list of some of massacres carried out by Zionist terrorist groups and the state of Israel on the Palestinian people from the early 20th century onwards. The purpose of this list is to demonstrate the state of Israel’s intent to genocide from the early 20th century, and their subsequent carrying out of genocide. Part of current Israeli propaganda and disinformation is the claim that Hamas intends to commit genocide, or that the October 7th operation was a genocide. This is a baseless claim. Palestinians are the occupied, and not the occupiers, and intent to kill is not evidence of intent to genocide. As I have discussed previously, Raphael Lemkin’s conception of genocide was based on occupation. It is often claimed that it is hard to prove intent to genocide, however, Lemkin made it quite clear that genocide begins with occupation. Killing is only one ‘technique’ of genocide. As Lemkin states, genocide signifies ‘a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.’ This list demonstrates only one aspect of Israel’s intent to genocide. Lemkin conceived eight techniques of genocide. ‘Mass killings’ comes under the ‘Physical’ technique of genocide, along with ‘endangering of health’.
The word ‘terrorist’, which I use frequently here, is triggering to Westerners who consume mass media. Terrorists are simply paramilitary organisations, or ‘unofficial’ military organisations. ‘Guerilla’, something considered glamorous and heroic in the West, has the same meaning. All of the attacks up to and during the Nakba had some Israeli terrorist group involvement. Some of the earlier terrorist attacks were in response to killings of Jews by Palestinian Arabs, and you can read about the context of those terror attacks in the links to the Palestine Post (PP) on these entries. The aim of Zionist terrorists groups, however, was the establishment of an independent Zionist state at the expense of the Palestinian population, and Zionist supremacy, whatever the individual attacks may have been in response to.
This list is a work in progress (currently up to 1948) and I will be continuing to add entries to it, but it is a time-consuming process. It will never be complete list. Each entry has been checked against more than one source where available. References are listed on each entry. Articles from newspapers I only quote once or twice will have direct links on the entry rather than being included in the reference list.
Sources and their abbreviations are listed here.
1936-1939 Arab Revolt
March 6 1937: Haifa Massacre.
Terrorists from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist gangs bombed a market in Haifa, killing 18 Arab civilians and wounding 38. (MEM)
October 1 1937: Jerusalem Massacre.
A terrorist from the Irgun detonated a bomb in the vegetable market near the Damascus (Nablus) Gate in Jerusalem, killing dozens of Arab civilians and wounding many others. (MEM)
December 1937: Al-Quds Massacre.
A terrorist from the Irgun hurled a hand grenade at the marketplace near al-Quds mosque, killing and injuring dozens. (MEM)
July 6 1938: Haifa Massacre
Terrorists from the Irgun placed two car bombs in a Haifa market, killing 21 Arab civilians and wounding 52. (MEM, Wadsworth, JM 200)
On eve and day of execution spontaneous popular demonstrations occurred Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa necessitating extensive police dispersal action and imposition 2 days curfew Jerusalem, Jaffa, Tel Aviv boundary where Jewish precipitated incidents during preceding week had resulted in 8 Arab casualties, 2 fatal, and 10 Jewish casualties, 3 fatal.
After 3 days quiet four synchronized separated acts of Jewish retaliation occurred at Jerusalem July 4th killing four Arabs, wounding nine; and further Jewish precipitated trouble occurred on Jaffa-Tel Aviv boundary one Arab being killed and eight Arabs and three Jews wounded.
July 5th saw two Jews killed in old city Jerusalem, an act of Arab terrorism answered 2 days later by Jewish bomb throwing at same spot killing two Arabs, wounding five.
On evening of July 6 Haifa was scene most serious incident last 2 years two powerful Jewish bombs being thrown into central Arab vegetable market fierce riot following 21 Arabs killed from bombings and 6 Jews being killed 92 Arabs and 11 Jews wounded.
Wounded further Jewish bombing reprisal Jerusalem killed 4 Arabs, wounded 24 bringing total urban casualties reported this telegram and not including numerous others in provinces to 219; that is 34 Arabs and 11 Jews killed, 153 Arabs and 21 Jews wounded.
July 13 1938: Jerusalem Massacre
10 Arabs killed and 31 were wounded in a massive explosion in the Arab vegetable market in the Old City.(MEM)
July 15 1938: Jerusalem Massacre
A terrorist from the Irgun threw a hand grenade in front of a mosque in Jerusalem as worshippers were walking out. 10 were killed and 30 were wounded. (MEM, JM 200)
July 25 1938: Haifa Massacre
A car bomb was planted Irgun terrorists in an Arab market in Haifa, killing 35 Arab civilians and wounding 70. (MEM, JM 200)
July 26 1938: Haifa Massacre
A terrorist from Irgun threw a hand grenade in a Haifa market killing 47 Arabs. (MEM)
August 26 1938: Jerusalem Massacre
A car bomb placed by Irgun terrorists exploded in a Jerusalem Arab market, killing 34 Arabs and wounding 35. (MEM, JM 200)
February 27: 1939 Bombings
Irgun terrorists set off bombs in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv. 38 Arabs were killed and 44 were injured. (AK 221, PP)
March 27 1939: Haifa Massacre
Irgun terrorists detonated two bombs in Haifa, killing 27 Arabs and wounding 39. (MEM)
June 12 1939: Balad Al-Shaykh Massacre
The Haganah Zionist gang raided the city of Balad Al-Shaykh, kidnapping and then murdering 5 villagers. (MEM, BM p 101)
June 19 1939: Haifa Massacre
Zionist terrorists threw a hand grenade in a Haifa market, killing 9 Arabs and wounding 4. (MEM, PP)
June 28 1939
Bomb Explosions, Haifa
Volume 349: debated on Wednesday 28 June 1939
Mr. M. MacDonald: Three bomb explosions have taken place in the vegetable market in Haifa since June, 1938. The casualties caused by these explosions were as follow: On 6th July, 1938, 21 persons were killed and 61 wounded; on 26th July 53 persons were killed and 45 wounded; and on 19th June of this year, 18 persons were killed and 24 wounded. I am unable to say how many. of these were men, women and children.
Sir N. Stewart Sandeman: Could the right hon. Gentleman tell us the nationality of these victims?
Mr. MacDonald: I should require notice before dividing them up, but, as far as my recollection goes, the great majority were Arabs.
Source: UK Parliament
1940-1946
July 22nd 1946: King David Hotel Bombing
Led by Menachem Begin, the Irgun carried out the bombing of the King David Hotel, the British military headquarters in Jerusalem, in order to destroy documents proving the terrorist campaigns of Zionist groups. The attack killed 28 Britons, 17 Jews, 41 Palestinians and 5 others, a total of 91 victims. (YBA 374-80, PP)
Al Nakba
December 13 1947: Al Abbasiyah Massacre
A group of Irgun terrorists disguised as British soldiers attacked the village of Al Abbasiyah and opened fire on its residents sitting outside a village café. The terrorists also bombed a number of homes and planted several time bombs. British soldiers surrounded the village and allowed the killers to escape from the northern side of the village. They killed 7 and severely wounded 7 others, 2 of whom died later, including a 5 year old child. The village was then ordered detsroyed. (MEM, WK 232, BM 354)
December 18 1947: Al-Khasas Massacre
3 Zionist terrorists from the Maayan Baruch kibbutz attacked and shot 5 Arab workers on their way to work. During the attack, one of the Zionists was stabbed and killed, prompting the commander of the Palmach third battalion, Moshe Kelman, to order a retaliatory operation to burn the homes and kill the men in Al-Khasas. The commander’s report notes that 12 were killed, all of whom were women and children. (MEM, MB 103)
December 29 1947: Jerusalem Massacre
Irgun terrorists threw a barrel full of explosives near Bab al-Amud (Damascus Gate) in Jerusalem, which killed 14 Arabs and wounded 27 others.(MEM, PP)
December 30 1947: Jerusalem Massacre
The Irgun gang threw a bomb from a speeding car, killing 11 Arabs.(MEM, PP)
December 31 1947: Balad Al-Shaykh Massacre
A joint force of the first Palmach battalion and a brigade led by Haim Avinoam attacked the Balad Al-Shaykh village killing 60 civilians, according to Zionist sources. Those killed included children, women and the elderly, and dozens of homes were destroyed. (MEM, BM 101, IP 72)
December 31 1947: Al-Sheikh Break Massacre
Zionist terrorist groups raided the village of Al-Sheikh Break, killing 40. (MEM, PP)
On a cold Wednesday afternoon, 10 March 1948, a group of eleven men, veteran Zionist leaders together with young military Jewish officers, put the final touches to a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. That same evening, military orders were dispatched to the units on the ground to prepare for the systematic expulsion of the Palestinians from vast areas of the country. The orders came with a detailed description of the methods to be employed to forcibly evict the people: large-scale intimidation; laying siege to and bombarding villages and population centres; setting fire to homes, properties and goods; expulsion; demolition; and, finally, planting mines among the rubble to prevent any of the expelled inhabitants from returning. Each unit was issued with its own list of villages and neighbourhoods as the targets of this master plan. Codenamed Plan D (Dalet in Hebrew), this was the fourth and final version of less substantial plans that outlined the fate the Zionists had in store for Palestine and consequently for its native population.”
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ilan Pappe.
January 4 1948: Saraya Massacre
The Lehi terrorist gangs used car bombs to attack the Saraya building and the Barclays Bank. Casualty reports are conflicting, but in the dozens. (BMII 100, Cairns Post Jan 6 1948, KB, MEM)
January 5 1948: Semiramis Hotel Massacre
The Haganah bombed the Semiramis Hotel located in the Katamon neighbourhood in Jerusalem. The hotel collapsed on its guests, all of whom were civilians, killing 26 and wounding over 20. (Wadsworth, JBB 268, MEM)
January 7 1948: Jerusalem Massacre
The Irgun gang threw a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, killing 20 Arab civilians and wounding 40 others. (MEM, PP)
January 22 1948: Yazur Massacre
Terrorists from the Palmach attacked a bus near Yazur, wounding the bus driver a several Arab passengers. On the same day, another group of terrorists attacked another bus, killing and wounding several people. These attacks by the Palmach and Givati Brigades on Arab villages and cars continued for 20 consecutive days while other units detonated bombs near village homes. The Haganah decided to attack the village and bomb the ice factory along with two buildings around it. Haganah terrorists opened fire on the ice factory in the village, while other groups opened fire and used hand grenades on the homes in the village. An engineering group bombed the Askandroni building, the ice factory, and killed 15 people. (MEM, WK 261-3, IP, BMII 152)
February 14 1948: Sa’sa Massacre
A Palmach force raided the village of Sa’sa and destroyed 20 inhabited homes, killing 60 villagers, most of whom were women and children. (MEM, IP 88, WK 190)
February 20 1948: Jerusalem Massacre
The Lehi stole a British army vehicle, filled it with explosives, and placed it in front of the Al Salam building in Jerusalem. The explosion killed 14 Arabs and 5 wounded 26. (MEM)
February 20 1948: Haifa Masacre
Zionist raiders attacked the Arab neighbourhoods in Haifa with mortar fire killing 6 Arabs and wounding 36 others. (MEM, PP)
March 13 1948: Husseiniya Massacre
The Haganah raided the village of Al-Husayniyya, destroying homes with explosives and killing over 30 families.(MEM, WK 456, BM 344)
March 13 1948: Abu Kabir Massacre
Groups from Haganah carried out an armed attack on the Abu Kabir neighbourhood in Jaffa. They destroyed homes and killed residents fleeing their homes to seek help.(MEM)
March 27 to 28, 1948: Beit Daras Massacre
The small village was one of a few villages and towns marked for destruction in Operation Nachshon. Heavy shelling killed nine villagers and destroyed large areas of the village's crops.(MEM, WK 87-88, Al Jazeera)
March 31 1948: Cairo Train Massacre, Haifa
Lehi terrorists planted bombs on a Cairo-Haifa train which killed 40 people and wound 60 others on explosion.(CIE, PP)
April 1 1948: Jaffa Massacre
Lehi terrorists threw a bomb in a crowded plaza in Jaffa, killing 15 people and wounding 98.(MEM)
April 1 1948: Al-Saraya Massacre
On January 4, 1948 the Irgun Zionist terrorist gang placed a car full of explosives near Al-Saraya in Jaffa which destroyed all that surrounded it, killed 30 Arabs and wounded several others.(MEM)
April 9 1948: Deir Yassin Massacre
The massacre at Deir Yassin accelerated the Al Nakba. A group of 300 Zionist terrorists, primarily by the Irgun and Lehi, supported by the Haganah and Palmach, attacked the village of Deir Yassin, despite the village having agreed to a non-aggression pact. 107 Palestinians were massacred, including women, children and the elderly. Horrific executions and abuses were carried out on the victims, and word of the atrocities caused the mass flight of Palestinians.(BM 237-9, IP 100-101, PP)
Fahim Zaydan, who was twelve years old at the time, recalled how he saw his family murdered in front of his eyes:
They took us out one after the other; shot an old man and when one of his daughters cried, she was shot too. Then they called my brother Muhammad, and shot him in front us, and when my mother yelled, bending over him – carrying my little sister Hudra in her hands, still breastfeeding her – they shot her too.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ilan Pappe.
April 13 1948: Nasir al-Din Massacre
Disguised Irgun and Lehi terrorists raided the village of Nasir al-Din, opening fire on its inhabitants and killing 50 people. On the previous day, both Nasir al-Din and Al-Shaykh Qadumi were attacked and 12 were killed.(MEM, WK 534, BM 183)
April 14 1948: Qalunya Massacre
A force from the Palmach Zionist terrorist group raided Qalunya, killing 14 or more according to an eye-witness account. (MEM, IP 101, BM 175, WK 309-10)
April 19 1948: Tabigha Massacre
Zionist terrorist gangs bombed a home in Tiberias, killing 15 of its residents.(MEM, WK 541, BM 250)
April 22 1948: Haifa Massacre
Zionist night raiders attacked Haifa from Hadar Alkarmel and occupied homes, streets and public buildings killing 50 Arabs and wounding 200 others. Another 100 civilians were killed and 200 wounded when trying to move the women and children from the village. Contemporary British reports denided the massacre. (MEM, PP, UK Parliament, SMH 23rd April 1948)
May 1 1948: Ein al Zeitun Massacre
Moshe Kelman was responsible for ordering the massacre at the small village of Ein al Zeitun, where up to 70 of its population of 820 were murdered. Survivor testimonies indicate 37 ‘youngsters’ from the village were massacred, nearly 39 bound prisoners were shot and sexual violence occurred.(Morris 289, BM 130)
May 13-14 1948: Abu Shusha Massacre
This massacre was committed by the Givati Brigade, killing up to 70 of its residents, including men, women, children and the elderly. One Haganah soldier twice attempted to rape a 20-year-old woman prisoner. Abu Shusha’s remaining inhabitants were expelled, apparently on 21 May.(BM 256–257, PP, IP 118)
June 21 1948: Beit Daras Massacre
A Zionist force supported by tanks surrounded the village of Beit Daras and opened fire on it. The people of the village realised the critical situation and decided to endure the fire and defend their homes at any cost, so they urged the women, children and the elderly to leave the village to lessen their losses. The women, children and the elderly headed towards the southern area of the village, and once they reached the outskirts, were met with Zionist gunfire, despite the fact that they were defenceless. A large number of them were killed, and the forces burned down several homes and bombed others.(BM 256, RB, WK 87)
June 13 1948: Safed Massacre
The Haganah slaughtered about 70 young men from Safed, but no details remain about this massacre.(MEM)
June 20 1948: Haifa Massacre
The Irgun and Lehi terrorists placed a bomb inside a vegetable box in a Haifa vegetable market, killing 78 and wounding 24.(MEM)
June 22 1948: Tantura Massacre
This massacre was carried out by the third battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade and the Zionist plan was to attack the village from two sides; the north and south. One brigade was to block the road, while a naval boat blocked the withdraw route by sea. Every attacking unit was provided with a guide from the neighbouring Zikhron Ya'akov settlement, whose residents knew their way around the village, and the brigade leadership kept a reserve unit for emergencies. Al-Tantura did not initiate a battle with the Haganah, but refused their terms, so the attackers took the men to the village graveyard, lined them up, and killed 200-250 of them. (IP 140-144, WK 194-195)
December 28 1948: Haifa Massacre
Zionist terrorists from the Al-Hadar neighbourhood, located at the top of Al-Abbas Street in Haifa, rolled down a barrel filled with explosives destroying homes and killing 20 Arab citizens, as well as wounding 50 others.(MEM)
1949-
October 14-15th 1953: Qibya Massacre
The Occupation claimed that claimed that villagers had hidden in cellars and attics and soldiers had been unaware of this when they blew up the buildings. In fact soldiers moved systematically from house to house, firing through windows and doorways. Jordanian pathologists reported that most of the dead had been killed by bullets and shrapnel rather than by falling masonry or explosions. Over 60 villagers were massacred . (United Nations, BMIII 278, NC 165-6)
October 26th 1956: Kafr Qasim Massacre
Israel Border Police killed 49 Arab civilians returning from work during a curfew of which the civilians were unaware. Nineteen men, six women, ten teenage boys (age 14-17), six girls (age 12-15), and seven young boys (age 8-13) were massacred. The villagers were Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. The soldiers responsible for the massacre were court-martialled, but were later amnestied. (BMII 295, NL 356, Remembering Kafr Qasim, Shira Robinson Palestinian Responses to the Kafr Qasim Massacre and Its Aftermath, 1956-66)
List still in progress.
Sources:
Ramzy Baroud, ‘Beit Daras and a buried history of massacres’ April 16, 2013, Asia Times Online. (RB)
J. Bowyer Bell, Terror out of Zion, Dublin: The Academy Press, 1977. (JBB)
Khaldun Bshara, The Ottoman Saraya: All That Did Not Remain, Jerusalem Quarterly; Al-beireh Iss. 69, (2017). (KB)
Yitshag Ben-Ami, Years of Wrath, Days of Glory: Memoirs from the Irgun, New York: Shengold Publishers, 1983.(YBA)
Meron Benvenisti, Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. (MB)
Neil Caplan, The Israel–Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories, Second Edition, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell, 2020. (NC)
Maher Charif, The Roots of Zionist Terrorism, Institute for Palestine Studies, 2023. (MC)
Walid Khalidi, All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies Washington, DC. 1992. (WK)
A.W. Kayyali, Palestine: A Modern History, Croom Helm Ltd. (AK)
Noah Lucas, The Modern History of Israel. New York, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. (NL)
John Marlowe, Rebellion in Palestine, Cresset Press, 1946. (JM)
Middle East Monitor, ‘Notorious massacres of Palestinians between 1937 & 1948, Fact Sheet’ May 2013, middleeastmonitor.com. (MEM)
Benny Morris, 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. (BMII)
Benny Morris, Israel's Border Wars, 1949–1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation and the Countdown to the Suez War, Oxford University Press 1993. (BMIV)
Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999, New York: Knopf 1999. (BMIII)
Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. (BM)
Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Oxford: Oneworld Publications 2006. (IP)
The Palestine Post, National Library of Israel.