| Balad al-Shaykh massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Balad al-Sheikh |
| Coordinates | 32°46′21″N 35°02′34″E / 32.7725°N 35.0427°E |
| Date | December 31, 1947 – January 1, 1948 |
| Target | Palestinian Arab civilians |
| Deaths | 60–70 Arab villagers,[a][b][c] 2 Haganah soldiers[d] |
| Injured | 41 Arab villagers,[citation needed] 2 Haganah soldiers[e] |
| Perpetrators | Haganah |
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The Balad al-Shaykh massacre[f] was the killing of a large number of Palestinians by the Haganah in the village of Balad al-Shaykh during the early stages of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine. It was one of the largest, and earliest, massacres during the 1948 Palestine war.
Between 60 and 70 Arab villagers were killed in the attack, which was conducted as a retaliation to the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre.[1] The killings had a significant effect on morale amongst Palestinian civilians in the Haifa region and contributed to the 1947-1949 Palestinian expulsion and flight.
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- ^ Golani, M.; Manna, A. (2011). وجها العملة: الاستقلال والنكبة: Independence and Nakba, 1948 : Two Narratives of the 1948 War and Its Outcome. Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation Series (in Arabic). Republic of Letters. p. 66. ISBN 978-90-8979-080-4. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
During the latter attack, 70 village residents – including men, women and children – were murdered in their homes, and in some cases in their beds, by Palmach members who managed to surprise the villages toward daybreak.