Is it older than Israel?

39 massacres, 1937 to 1982

Before Hamas existed.

Hamas was founded on 14 December 1987. Every massacre of Palestinians below happened before that day: 39 of them, from 1937 to 1982.

Before the state

The Irgun, Lehi, the Haganah and its strike force, the Palmach, under the British Mandate. The Haganah became the Israeli army on 26 May 1948; the Irgun and Lehi were absorbed into it later that year.

Black Sunday14 Nov 1937Irgun attacks around Jerusalem on 14 November 1937 killed ten Palestinians and opened its bombing campaign.By: the IrgunThe Haifa market bombing6 Jul 1938Irgun bombs in Haifa's Arab market on 6 July 1938 killed 21 people; a second on 25 July killed 39 more.By: the IrgunThe Jerusalem market bombing15 Jul 1938An Irgun bomb in Jerusalem's melon market on 15 July 1938 killed ten people.By: the IrgunThe Jaffa market bombing26 Aug 1938An Irgun bomb in Jaffa's vegetable market on 26 August 1938 killed 24 people.By: the IrgunThe al-Khisas killings18 Dec 1947A Palmach raid on the village of al-Khisas on the night of 18 December 1947 killed ten people, five of them children.By: the PalmachThe Damascus Gate bombing29 Dec 1947The Irgun threw a bomb into a crowd at Jerusalem's Damascus Gate on 29 December 1947, killing at least 13 people.By: the IrgunThe Balad al-Shaykh massacre31 Dec 1947A Palmach and Carmeli raid on Balad al-Shaykh on the night of 31 December 1947 killed about 60 villagers.By: the Palmach and the Haganah's Carmeli BrigadeThe Jaffa bombing4 Jan 1948A Lehi truck bomb at Jaffa's Saraya building on 4 January 1948 killed 26 people.By: LehiThe Semiramis Hotel bombing5 Jan 1948The Haganah bombed the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem's Qatamon on 5 January 1948, killing 26 people.By: the HaganahThe Sa'sa' raid14 Feb 1948A Palmach raid on Sa'sa' on the night of 14 February 1948 blew up houses with families inside; about 60 died.By: the PalmachThe Ramla market bombing18 Feb 1948An Irgun bomb in Ramla's market on 18 February 1948 killed seven people.By: the IrgunThe al-Husayniyya raid13 Mar 1948A Palmach raid on al-Husayniyya in the Hula valley on the night of 13 March 1948 blew up houses with their families inside; about 30 died.By: the PalmachThe Deir Yassin massacre9 Apr 1948Irgun and Lehi fighters killed over a hundred villagers on 9 April 1948, five weeks before the declaration.By: Irgun and Lehi, with Haganah supportThe Nasir al-Din massacre12 Apr 1948Irgun and Lehi fighters entered Nasir al-Din, beside Tiberias, on 12 April 1948 and killed about 50 villagers, three days after Deir Yassin.By: Irgun and LehiThe Ein al-Zeitun massacre1 May 1948The Palmach took the village on 1 May 1948; dozens of prisoners were shot afterwards.By: the Palmach

14 May 1948 The State of Israel declared

After the state

The State of Israel's army and police, from 14 May 1948. In 1982, the Lebanese militia that Israel's army let into the camps.

Al-Bassa killings, 194814 May 1948Haganah troops took al-Bassa on 14 May 1948 and shot at least five villagers at the church before expelling the rest.By: Haganah forces in Operation Ben-Ami, on the day the state was declaredSource: Saleh Abd al-Jawad, Zionist Massacres (2007); Meron Benvenisti, Sacred Landscape (2000), pp. 139-140The Abu Shusha massacre14 May 1948The Givati Brigade took Abu Shusha, near Ramla, on 14 May 1948, the day of the declaration; about 60 villagers were killed.By: the Givati Brigade, Haganah, on the day the state was declaredThe Bayt Daras massacre21 May 1948The Givati Brigade attacked Bayt Daras, north of Gaza, on 21 May 1948; about 50 villagers were killed as they fled.By: the Givati Brigade, Haganah forces of the new stateThe Tantura massacre23 May 1948The Alexandroni Brigade took the village on the night of 22 to 23 May 1948, nine days after the declaration.By: the Alexandroni Brigade, Haganah forces of the new stateLydda massacre, 194812 Jul 1948Israeli troops killed some 250 people in Lydda on 12 July 1948, many in the Dahmash mosque.By: the Israeli army's Yiftach BrigadeSource: Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (2004), citing the Palmach's own historyThe al-Burj killings23 Jul 1948Israeli troops killed four elderly villagers left behind in al-Burj in July 1948, three of them in a house blown up with grenades.By: the Israeli army, in Operation DaniSource: Israeli army documents published by Adam Raz, Haaretz, 9 December 2021The Reineh killings15 Sept 1948Israeli forces detained 14 people near Reineh in September 1948, accused them of smuggling and killed them, a young Bedouin woman among them.By: the Israeli armySource: Israeli army documents published by Adam Raz, Haaretz, 9 December 2021The al-Dawayima massacre29 Oct 1948Israeli soldiers killed between 80 and 100 villagers at al-Dawayima on 29 October 1948, by the army's own inquiry.By: the Israeli army's 89th BattalionThe Safsaf massacre29 Oct 1948Israeli soldiers shot about 50 men at Safsaf on 29 October 1948 after the village surrendered.By: the Israeli armyThe Jish massacre29 Oct 1948The 7th Brigade took Jish in Operation Hiram on 29 October 1948; about ten villagers were killed after the fighting.By: the Israeli army's 7th BrigadeThe Saliha massacre30 Oct 1948The 7th Brigade blew up a house in Saliha with villagers inside on 30 October 1948; between 60 and 94 died.By: the Israeli army's 7th BrigadeThe Eilabun massacre30 Oct 1948The Golani Brigade shot 14 villagers in Eilabun on 30 October 1948 and expelled the rest; the villagers later returned.By: the Israeli army's Golani BrigadeThe Deir al-Asad and Bi'ina killings31 Oct 1948After both villages surrendered on 31 October 1948, troops picked four men at random and shot them in an olive grove.By: the Israeli army, in Operation HiramSource: Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (2004), p. 477The Arab al-Mawasi massacre2 Nov 1948Soldiers shot 14 Bedouin men of the Arab al-Mawasi near Eilabun on 2 November 1948.By: the Israeli armyThe Majd al-Kurum killings5 Nov 1948Soldiers shot eight villagers in Majd al-Kurum, in the Galilee, on 5 November 1948 after the village had surrendered.By: the Israeli armyThe Beit Jala raid6 Jan 1952Israeli soldiers blew up three houses in Beit Jala on 6 January 1952, killing seven civilians, three of them children.By: an Israeli army platoon, by the UN investigators' findingSource: UN Mixed Armistice Commission findings, January 1952The Bureij massacre28 Aug 1953Unit 101 bombed huts of sleeping refugees in Bureij camp on 28 August 1953; the UN armistice commission counted 20 killed.By: the Israeli army's Unit 101, led by Ariel SharonSource: UN Mixed Armistice Commission report, which called it “an appalling case of deliberate mass murder”The Qibya massacre14 Oct 1953Unit 101, led by Ariel Sharon, killed 69 villagers in Qibya on the night of 14 October 1953.By: the Israeli army's Unit 101, led by Ariel SharonThe Kafr Qasim massacre29 Oct 1956Israeli Border Police killed 49 villagers on 29 October 1956.By: the Israeli Border PoliceKhan Younis massacre, 19563 Nov 1956Israeli troops killed about 275 people in Khan Younis and its camp on 3 November 1956, by UNRWA's count.By: the Israeli armySource: UNRWA Director's special report to the UN General Assembly, 15 December 1956Rafah massacre, 195612 Nov 1956Israeli troops killed about 111 people in Rafah and its refugee camp on 12 November 1956, by UNRWA's count.By: the Israeli armySource: UNRWA Director's special report to the UN General Assembly, 15 December 1956The 1961 Gaza border killings17 Sept 1961Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinian teenagers, citizens of Israel, crossing toward Gaza on 17 and 18 September 1961.By: Israeli security forcesSource: Israeli government statements at the time; press reports, September 1961The bombing of the Nabatieh camp15 May 1974Israeli air strikes after the Ma'alot attack destroyed the Nabatieh refugee camp in May 1974, killing between 27 and 50 people.By: the Israeli air forceSource: New York Times, 18 May 1974The Sabra and Shatila massacre16 Sept 1982Phalangist militiamen killed hundreds in the camps from 16 to 18 September 1982, inside an area held by the Israeli army.By: Lebanese Phalangist militiamen, in an area held by the Israeli armySource: The Kahan Commission (February 1983) found Israel indirectly responsible and Defence Minister Ariel Sharon personally responsible.

14 Dec 1987 Hamas founded

Figures are the lowest the sources give.

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