Operation Bi'ur Hametz | |||||||
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Part of the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the Plan Dalet, and Nakba | |||||||
![]() Jewish militants in Haifa | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
400 regulars, unknown number of reservists[1] | ~2,000[1]–3,500 militiamen |
The Battle of Haifa, called by the Jewish forces Operation Bi'ur Hametz (Hebrew: מבצע ביעור חמץ "Passover Cleaning"),[2] 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,[3] and with only 4,000 remaining in the city by mid-May from a pre-conflict population of approximately 65,000.