Battle of Haifa (1948)

Operation Bi'ur Hametz
	Part of the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, the Plan Dalet, and Nakba
	; Jewish militants in Haifa
Date	21–22 April 1948
Location	Haifa, Mandatory Palestine
Result	Haganah victory Jewish 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
Yishuv Haganah; Palmach; Hish;	Palestinian Arabs; Arab Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Moshe Carmel	Capt. Amin Bey Izz al-Din (OC Militia); Yunnis Naffa (Deputy)
Strength
400 regulars, unknown number of reservists	~2,000–3,500 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.

^ ^a ^b "The British estimated that in the battle for Haifa, some '2,000' Arab militiamen were set against '400 trained Jews backed by an indeterminate number of reserves" —Benny Morris (2004), p. 192.
^ Pappé 2006: "Operation ‘Cleansing the Leaven’ (bi‘ur hametz). The Hebrew term stands for total cleansing and refers to the Jewish religious practice of eliminating all traces of bread or flour from people’s homes on the eve of the Passover, since as these are forbidden during the days of the feast. Brutally appropriate, the cleansing of Haifa, in which the Palestinians were the bread and the flour, began on Passover’s eve, 21 April."
^ Morris 2004, p. 86 ("Some 15,000 Arabs evacuated Haifa during 21–22 April")

[morris192-1] "The British estimated that in the battle for Haifa, some '2,000' Arab militiamen were set against '400 trained Jews backed by an indeterminate number of reserves" —Benny Morris (2004), p. 192.

[Pappé_2006-2] Pappé 2006: "Operation ‘Cleansing the Leaven’ (bi‘ur hametz). The Hebrew term stands for total cleansing and refers to the Jewish religious practice of eliminating all traces of bread or flour from people’s homes on the eve of the Passover, since as these are forbidden during the days of the feast. Brutally appropriate, the cleansing of Haifa, in which the Palestinians were the bread and the flour, began on Passover’s eve, 21 April."

[3] Morris 2004, p. 86 ("Some 15,000 Arabs evacuated Haifa during 21–22 April")

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