Safsaf massacre - Definition and Overview

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The Safsaf massacre occurred on October 29, 1948, when Israeli brigades captured the village of Safsaf. The village was defended by the Arab Liberation Army Second Yarmuk Battalion. About 50-70 people were killed and 5 women were raped, among them a 14 year old girl.

The village was attacked during the evening of October 29 and a fierce battle lasted until 7 AM the next morning. The village defenders inflicted heavy casualties to the attackers.

Safsaf was the first village to fall in Operation Hiram.

Yosef Nachmani, a high-ranking member of Haganah and the director of the offices of the Jewish National Fund wrote:

"The acts of cruelty committed by our soldiers. After they went into Safsaf, the village and its people raised a white flag. They separated the men from the women, tied the hands of some 50 to 60 peasants and shot and killed them, burying them in a single hole. They also raped a number of the women from the village. ..In Salha, which raised a white flag, they carried out a real massacre, killing men and women, about 60 to 70 people. Where did they find such a degree of cruelty like that of the Nazis? They learned from them." [1] (http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:wTh8NVdrR0wJ:www.mail-archive.com/msa_ec%40listbot.com/msg01463.html++%22After+they+went+into+Safsaf%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)

See also

• List of massacres committed during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war

External links and references

• [2] (http://www.abunimah.org/features/010713shatila.html) - Abu Ismail's eyewitness account
• [3] (http://www.iap.org/articles/safsaf.htm) - Mohammad Abdallah Edghaim's eyewintess account