The Israeli military operation directly related to the depopulation of the village. This column is incomplete and needs further expansion. No entry does not necessarily mean no influence of military assault. The effect of Israeli operations is seen clearly in the geographical area which combine clusters of villages. There is hardly any village which has not been depopulated without the effect of some operation. A diagram (shown later), which plotted date of village depopulation against the date of Israeli operations, showed complete correlation. If there was a lull in the fighting, however short, no villagers left. This is remarkable and shows direct cause and effect. Villagers usually circled around their village, waiting for a chance to return. When they did they were shot as “infiltrators”. They then sought refuge in the next village. When attacked, both villages would find a new haven nearby. The exodus took a snowballing effect. Except for those who fled by sea, refugees took a circuitous route to their final place of refuge, showing their reluctance to leave home. Table-4 gives a list of Israeli operations and the symbols used here. It is clear that all operations are offensive, designed to occupy land and expel its people. None is defensive as the Israeli myths or the name IDF would have it. The ethnic cleansing motive is clear in naming at least 4 operations by such a name.
Table-4: Israeli Invasion 1948-1949/Operations
| Symbol |
Operation |
Date |
Description |
| d |
DALET (General Plan) |
Started 4 April 1948 |
To capture Arab land before end of British Mandate. |
| nn |
Nachshon–first operation of Dalet |
6-15 April 1948 |
Against Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Road. (defeated) |
| |
Har'el, after conclusion of Nachshon |
13-20 April 1948 |
Against villages on Jerusalem Road. (defeated) |
| ms |
Misparayim (Scissors) |
21 April 1948 |
Against Haifa inhabitants, followed by Bi'ur Chametz. (successful) |
| bc |
Bi'ur Chametz (Passover cleansing) |
24-30 April 1948 |
"Cleansing" villages, south and south east of Haifa |
| ch |
Chametz (Cleansing) |
27 April-5 May 1948 |
Against Jaffa villages. (successful) |
| ys |
Yevussi |
26-30 April 1948 |
Against villages around Jerusalem. (defeated) |
| yh |
Yiftach |
28 April-25 May 1948 |
Against Safad and eastern Galilee. (successful) |
| mt |
Matate (Broom)–Part of Yiftach |
30 April-10 May 1948 |
To drive villagers south of Tiberias across Jordan. (successful) |
| mc |
Maccabi |
8-16 May 1948 |
Against villages on al-Ramla-Latrun. (defeated) |
| gd |
Gideon |
10-15 May 1948 |
"Cleansing" Baysan valley. (successful) |
| bk |
Barak |
9 May-1 June 1948 |
Against south of al-Ramla, Bureir and Negev road.(partly successful) |
| ba |
Ben Ami |
13-21 May 1948 |
Against Acre and 'cleansing' Western Galilee. (successful) |
| qn |
Qilshon (Pitchfork) |
14 May 1948 |
Against Arab western Jerusalem, outside Old City. (successful) |
| sc |
Schiffon |
14 May 1948 |
Against Jerusalem, Old City. (defeated) |
| bn |
Ben Nun |
16-30 May 1948 |
Against Arab legion in al-Latrun. |
| ym |
Yoram |
9-10 June 1948 |
Against Arab legion in al-Latrun. |
| dn |
Dani |
7-18 July 1948 |
To capture of Lydda and al-Ramla and villages around. (successful) |
| dk |
Dekel |
8-14 July 1948 |
Against east Acre and Nazareth. |
| af |
an Far |
8-11 July 1948 |
Against village south of al-Ramla, from Hebron to Coast. |
| qd |
Qedem |
17 July 1948 |
Against Old City. |
| st |
Shoter (Policeman) |
24-26 July 1948 |
Against "Little Triangle", south of Haifa. |
| ha |
ha Har |
18-30 October 1948 |
To widen Jerusalem corridor and attack Hebron villages, complementary to Yo'av. |
| rk |
Nikayon (Cleansing) |
24-28 August 1948 |
Against Yibna,Isdud, during 2nd Truce. |
| yv |
Yo'av (Ten Plagues) |
15 Oct-9 Nov 1948 |
Against the south, defended by the Egyptians. |
| hm |
Hiram |
29 Oct-2 Nov 1948 |
Against Upper Galilee held by Qawuqji (successful) |
| as |
Assaf |
5-6 December 1948 |
Part of Yoav. Against Gaza Strip. (failed) |
| hv |
Horev |
22 Dec-6 Jan 1949 |
To occupy the remainder of Palestine south of Beer Sheba. (uncontested) |
| uv |
Uvdah |
6-10 March 1949 |
To capture Um Rashrash (Eilat), after Armistice Agreement signed. (uncontested) |
| |
| |
First Truce |
11 June-8 July 1948 |
|
| |
Second Truce |
11 June-8 July 1948 |
|
| |
Armistice Agreement with Egypt |
24 Feb 1949 |
|
| |
Armistice Agreement with Lebanon |
23 March 1949 |
|
| |
Armistice Agreement with Jordan |
3 April 1949 |
|
| |
Armistice Agreement with Syria |
3 April 1949 |
|
Column-17
The defenders of the village. No entry means the defence (if any) is undertaken by the villagers themselves. ALA=Arab Liberation Army, AL=Arab Legion (Trans-Jordan), EG=Egypt, SYR=Syria, LEB=Lebanon. Estimates of local defenders do not exceed 2500 in total, poorly trained and armed, and dispersed among a dozen towns and several hundred villages. These were disarmed by 15 May 1948. In the first 6 months of 1948, Jewish forces numbered 65,000. In the same period, the Arab Liberation Army, a force of 3155 assorted Arab volunteers, led by Fawzi al Qauwqji, entered Palestine, but was largely ineffective. When the Arab forces entered Palestine on 15 May 1948, their number was much smaller than Israeli forces. The latter reached a peak of 121,000 against Egypt (9,000 to 28,500), Trans-Jordan (4,500), Syria (2,000), Lebanon (700), Iraq (2,500), Saudi Arabia (1,100), Sudan (1,675) and assorted others who never worked under one command. In individual battles, Israel outnumbered Arabs by up to 4:1.