Operation Matateh 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 ten days before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. It was a sub-section of Operation Yiftach

Operation Yiftach

Operation Yiftach was an offensive of the Israeli Haganah between 28 April and 29 May 1948 aimed at capturing the eastern Galilee. The central objectives were the capture of Safed and the securing of the Lebanese and Syrian borders before the British Mandate ended on 14 May 1948...

, with the objectivies of capturing the flatlands between Lake Tiberias and Lake Hula and clear the area of 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:...

 encampments. It was carried out by Palmach

Palmach

The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...

 units under the command of Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, and acting Prime Minister of Israel, and was a member of the Knesset and government minister from the 10th through the...

.

Background

The 1942 edition of Steimatzky's "Palestine Guide" describes Hula district as follows:

"The road passes through several small Arab settlements. All round are Bedouin encampments with mat tents. The Bedouin gather reeds that grow in the marshes and weave them into mats. These are sold in the markets, and form an important source of their income. You can see the people weaving beside their tents. They also breed buffalies(sic) which can be seen basking in the swamps near the springs. This part of the country is rich in this type of cattle."

In a report to Haganah General Staff, dated 22 April 1948, Allon recommended: "an attempt to clear the beduins encamped between the Jordan, and Jubb Yusuf

Jubb Yusuf

Jubb Yusuf was a Palestinian village depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.Situated in rocky terrain northwest of Lake Tiberias, the village was associated with a nearby well, Jubb Yussef , which was the site of a khan or caravan stopping place for centuries.-History:Under the Ottoman Empire,...

 and the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...

". The area was home to five Bedouin clans: al-Qudayriyya

Al-Qudayriyya

Al-Qudayriyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 by the Haganah and the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Matate, a sub-operation of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6.5 km south...

, 'Arab as Samakiya, 'Arab as Suyyad, Arab al-Shamalina

Arab al-Shamalina

Arab al-Shamalina also known as Khirbat Abu Zayna was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 under Operation Matate , a sub operation of Operation Yiftach...

 and the al-Zanghariyya

Al-Zanghariyya

Al-Zanghariyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 under Operation Matate. It was located 8.5 km southeast of Safad, near Wadi al-Ghara. The village was later burned and destroyed on...

. These had for months harassed Jewish traffic on the Tiberias - Rosh-Pina road.

Operation

The Operational orders were:

1. The destruction of bases of the enemy, who sabotages and harrasses our traffic in the Galilee
2. To destroy points of assembly for invading forces from east
3. To join the lower and upper Galilee with a relatively wide and safe strip.

The company commanders who attacked the villages of Zanghariya and Tabigha and the area of 'Arab ash Shamalina' also had orders that "their inhabitants [be] expelled and houses blown up", though friendly Arabs and churches "should on no account be harmed." The attack was launched on 4 May 1948. The assault on Zanghariya was preceded by mortaring and the Arabs fled eastward into Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

. The following day Palmach sappers 'methodically blew up more than 50 houses' in the area.

The Yiftah Logbook records on 4 May that: "The operation is going according to plan and at 9.00 o'clock (a.m.?) the units reached their objectives as, on the way, they blow up all the houses and burn all the bedouin tents."

Aftermath

A cable to the British Foreign Office, dated 4 May, quoted Syrian sources that 2,000 refugees had crossed the border. According to Yigal Allon, Operation Broom had a "tremendous psychological impact" on the population of Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

 and of the Hula Valley to the north.

Communities captured during Operation Matateh

(Population figures based on year-end 1944 figures from the 'Village Statistics 1945 - Palestine Index Gazetteer.')

Name	Date	Defending forces	Brigade	Population
Arab al-Shamalina Arab al-Shamalina Arab al-Shamalina also known as Khirbat Abu Zayna was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 under Operation Matate , a sub operation of Operation Yiftach...	4 May 1948	Villagers fled	Palmach	650
al-Butayha Al-Butayha Al-Butayha was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Matate. It was located 13 km southeast of Safad, quarter of a mile east of the Jordan River...	4 May 1948	villagers fled	Palmach	650
al-Qudayriyya Al-Qudayriyya Al-Qudayriyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 by the Haganah and the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Matate, a sub-operation of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6.5 km south...	4 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... 2nd Yarmuk Battalion	n/a	390
al-Zanghariyya Al-Zanghariyya Al-Zanghariyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948 under Operation Matate. It was located 8.5 km southeast of Safad, near Wadi al-Ghara. The village was later burned and destroyed on...	4 May 1948	n/a	Palmach	840