Operation Gideon was a Haganah

Haganah

Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...

 offensive launched in the closing days of the British Mandate in Palestine, as part of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine lasted from 30 November 1947, the date of the United Nations vote in favour of the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the UN Partition Plan, to the termination of the British Mandate itself on 14 May 1948.This period constitutes the...

. Its objectives were to capture Beisan (Beit She'an), clear the surrounding villages and bedouin

Bedouin

The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...

 camps and block one of the possible entry routes for Transjordan

Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

ian forces. It was part of Plan Dalet

Plan Dalet

Plan Dalet, or Plan D, was a plan worked out by the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group and the forerunner of the Israel Defense Forces, in Palestine in autumn 1947 to spring 1948. Its purpose is much debated...

. The operation was carried out by the Golani

Golani

Golani may refer to:*Golani Brigade, an Israeli infantry brigade*Golani Family, an Indian royal family*Golani Junction, a location in Israel*Rivka Golani , an Israeli viola player* Golani, anti-communist protestors, from the Romanian Golaniad...

 brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

 between 10–15 May 1948. Avraham Yoffe

Avraham Yoffe

Avraham Yoffe was an Israeli general during the Six-Day War. He later entered politics, and served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1973 and 1977.-Biography:...

 commanded the battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

 that captured Beisan. The 1947 UN Partition Plan

1947 UN Partition Plan

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...

 allocated Beisan and most of its district to the proposed Jewish state

Jewish state

A homeland for the Jewish people was an idea that rose to the fore in the 19th century in the wake of growing anti-Semitism and Jewish assimilation. Jewish emancipation in Europe paved the way for two ideological solutions to the Jewish Question: cultural assimilation, as envisaged by Moses...

. It is possible that Irgun

Irgun

The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...

 units were involved in parts of the operation. Following the operation, the town formally surrendered with most of its residents fleeing. Most Arab Christians relocated to Nazareth

Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

. A ma'abarah

Ma'abarot

The Ma'abarot were refugee absorption camps in Israel in the 1950s. The Ma'abarot were meant to provide accommodation for the large influx of Jewish refugees and new Olim arriving to the newly independent State of Israel, replacing the less habitable immigrant camps or tent cities...

 (refugee camp) inhabited mainly by North African immigrants was also erected in Beit She'an, and it later became a development town

Development town

Development town is a term used to refer to the new settlements that were built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing to a large influx of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and new immigrants , who arrived to the newly established State...

.

Background

Beisan was a predominantly Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 town in the centre of a fertile valley running into the River Jordan. The area has significant Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian, Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

, Samaritan

Samaritan

The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism...

, Jewish and Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 archeological remains. It was on the main road from 'Afula and Tiberias which was one of the ancient routes between Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. During the British mandate a number of Jewish villages were established in the valley. By the end of the Second World war, Jews owned a third of the lands in the Beisan valley. The Beisan lands were awarded to the Jews under the 1947 UN Partition plan.

Operation

On the night of 10/11 May troops from the Golani brigade captured two villages close to Baysan and immediately commenced blowing up houses. The following night they launched a mortar bombardment on Baysan. Commander Yoffe telephoned local leaders in the town and threatened to level the town. The next day the town formally surrendered with most of its residents fleeing. Between 700 and 1,500 of those who remained in the town were expelled across the River Jordan on 14/15 May. There were left around 250 people, mainly Christians and they were trucked to Nazareth on 28 May.

Aftermath

Yosef Weitz

Yosef Weitz

Yosef Weitz was the director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund. From the 1930s, Weitz played a major role in acquiring land for the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine.-Biography:...

 of the JNF

Jewish National Fund

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

 claimed he had David Ben-Gurion

David Ben-Gurion

' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...

's approval for a program of systematic destruction of villages. But it appears that Ben Gurion was concerned by the destruction of Baysan. On 16 June he cabled Golani headquarters: "Ask Avraham Yoffe is it true that he burned the town of Beit Shean in whole or in part, and on whose instructions did he do this?"
This appears to have been as a result of Agriculture Minister, Aharon Zisling

Aharon Zisling

Aharon Zisling was an Israeli politician and minister and a signatory of Israel's declaration of independence.-Biography:Born in Minsk in the Russian Empire , Zisling emigrated to Palestine in 1904...

, raising the issue at the Provisinal Government's Cabinet meeting on the same day:
"destruction during battle ... is one thing. But a month later in cold blood, out of political calculation is another thing altogether. This course will not reduce the number of Arabs who will return to the Land of Israel. It will increase the number of our enemies."
On 20 June Minority Affairs Minister, Bechor Shitrit

Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit

Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit was an Israeli politician, minister and the only signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence to have been born in the country...

 also raised the issue of destruction of villages.

Most Arab Christians relocated to Nazareth

Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

. During the 1950s a ma'abarah

Ma'abarot

The Ma'abarot were refugee absorption camps in Israel in the 1950s. The Ma'abarot were meant to provide accommodation for the large influx of Jewish refugees and new Olim arriving to the newly independent State of Israel, replacing the less habitable immigrant camps or tent cities...

 (refugee camp) inhabited mainly by North African immigrants was erected in Beit She'an, and it later became a development town

Development town

Development town is a term used to refer to the new settlements that were built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing to a large influx of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and new immigrants , who arrived to the newly established State...

.

Arab communities captured during Operation Gideon

Name	Date	Defending forces	Brigade	Population
Al-Ashrafiyya Al-Ashrafiyya Al-Ashrafiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 4.5 km southwest of Baysan.The village was depopulated on May 12, 1948 during Operation Gideon...	10 May 1948	villagers fled	Golani brigade	230
Farwana Farwana Farwana was a Palestinian village, located south of Bisan, depopulated in 1948.-History:Identified with the ancient city of Rehov, extant during Egyptian rule over Canaan in the second millennium BCE, archaeological sites located on the former village's lands include Tell es-Sarem Farwana was...	10 May 1948	villagers fled 'to Transjordan'	Golani brigade	330
Baysan	12 May 1948	Arab Liberation Army Arab Liberation Army The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji... 'contingents'	Golani brigade	5,180 inc. 430 Christians
Al-Sakhina Al-Sakhina Al-Sakhina was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was located five kilometres west of Baysan on the Jalud River on its way to the Jordan River...	12 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade	820 inc. 290 Jews
Al-Hamidiyya Al-Hamidiyya Al-Hamidiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 12, 1948. It was located five kilometres north of Baysan. It was attacked as part of Operation Gideon...	12 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade	320 inc. 100 Jews
Sirin Sirin Sirin is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head and chest of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird . According to myth, the Sirins lived "in Indian lands" near Eden or around the Euphrates River....	12 May 1948	n/a	Golani	810
Al-Ghazzawiyya Al-Ghazzawiyya Al-Ghazzawiyya was a former Palestinian village located 2 kilometers east of the city of Bet Shean . In 1945, the population was 1,640, 1,020 Arab and 620 Jewish.-History:...	20 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade 4th battalion	1,640 inc. 620 Jews
Al-Fatur Al-Fatur Al-Fatur was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 12, 1948. It was located 11.5 km south of Baysan....	20 May 1948	n/a	n/a	110
'Arab al-Safa	20 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade	650
Kawkab al-Hawa Kawkab al-Hawa Kawkab al-Hawa is a depopulated former Palestinian village located11 km north of Baysan. Kawkab al-Hawa contained the Crusader fortress of Belvoir. The Crusader names for the Frankish settlement at Kuwaykat were Beauvoir, Belvoir, Bellum videre, Coquet, Cuschet and Coket...	21 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade 3rd battalion	300
Al-Samiriyya Al-Samiriyya Al-Samiriyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 27, 1948 as part of Operation Gideon. It was located 7 km southeast of Baysan....	27 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade 4th battalion	250
Danna Danna Danna was a Palestinian village 13 kilometres north of Baysan that was captured by the Israel Defence Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.-History:...	28 May 1948	n/a	Golani brigade	190

Other Arab communities in Baysan district, 1948

Name	Date	Defending forces	Brigade	Population
'Arab al-'Arida	n/a	n/a	n/a	330 inc 180 Jews
'Arab al-Bawati	n/a	n/a	n/a	520
Al-Bira	n/a	n/a	n/a	260
Al-Hamra ('Arab al-Hamra)	n/a	n/a	n/a	730
Jabbul Jabbul Jabbul is a depopulated former Palestinian Arab village located7 km north of Baysan. During Operation Gideon, the village was occupied by the Golani Brigade.- Location :...	7 June 1948	n/a	Barak	420 inc. 170 Jews (Beyt Yosef)
Kafra Kafra Kafra was a Palestinian Arab village located 10.5 kilometres north of Baysan. Built along both sides of the Wadi Kafra, the village had been known by this name since at least the time of the Crusades. The population of the village in 1922 was 273, rising to an estimated 499 in 1948...	n/a	n/a	n/a	430
Al-Khunayzir Al-Khunayzir Al-Khunayzir was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, on May 20, 1948. It was attacked as part of Operation Gideon....	n/a	n/a	n/a	260
Masil al-Jil	n/a	n/a	n/a	100
Al-Murassas Al-Murassas Al-Murassas was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1948 War on May 16, 1948...	n/a	n/a	n/a	460
Tall al-Shawk Tall al-Shawk Tall al-Shawk was a Palestinian village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 12, 1948 as part of Operation Gideon. It was located five km west of Baysan between the al-Januna'in River to the...	n/a	n/a	n/a	120
Umm 'Ajra Umm 'Ajra Umm 'Ajra was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 31, 1948 as part of Operation Gideon. It was located 4 km south of Baysan and the 'Ayn Umm 'Ajra provided the village with water...	n/a	n/a	n/a	260
Zab'a Zab'a Zab'a was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defence Force during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 12, 1948 as part of Operation Gideon...	n/a	n/a	n/a	170