Summary
Palestinian town of 17,000, home town of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), taken in Operation Dani in July 1948 after its notables reached an agreement that ostensibly allowed its people to stay; its people were rounded up, the town looted, and its population forced to march to the West Bank, in Pappe’s account.
Details
- The attack on Ramla started on 12 July 1948, but its final occupation was only completed after the Israelis had taken Lydd; the town had been bombed by the Irgun in one of its markets on 18 February 1948, killing several people (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.202).
- Terrified by the news from Lydd, the city notables reached an agreement with the Israeli army that ostensibly allowed the people to stay; Israeli units entered on 14 July and immediately rounded up 3,000 people to a prison camp nearby and started looting the city the same day (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.202).
- The commander on the spot was Yitzhak Rabin, who recalled Ben-Gurion answering Yigal Allon’s question — what is to be done with the population in Lydd and Ramla? — by waving his hand in a gesture that said: “Drive them out!” (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.202).
- The people of both cities were forced to march, without food and water, to the West Bank, many dying from thirst and hunger on the way; only a few hundred were allowed to stay in both towns, and Rabin estimated a total of 50,000 people had been ‘transferred’ (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.202).
- Sitta’s register lists Ramle at S 77: depopulation date 9-07-48 with the notes “10,13-Jul,IZL,R1500”, Exodus Causes E/M, defenders AL, Arab Population 48 of 17,586 on 21,661 dunums, and 69,937 UNRWA-registered refugees in this list (The Palestinian Nakba 1948 — The Register of Depopulated Localities in Palestine, PDF p.3).
Related pages
The Palestinian Nakba 1948 — The Register of Depopulated Localities in Palestine, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Operation Dani, Lydd, Yitzhak Rabin, Yigal Allon