Middle East 657
651 EGYPT/666 ISRAELMID#1793
Dispute Number: 1793
Date(s): May 14, 1948 to November 18, 1948
Participants: 645 Iraq, 651 Egypt, 652 Syria, 660 Lebanon, 663 Jordan/666 Israel
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side B (Negotiated)
Fatalities: >999 deaths
Narrative: From mid-1947 through early 1948, Palestinians and Israelis fought over
who would control the area once the British Mandate expired on May 15, 1947.
As each side vied for control, the Israelis declared independence on May 14, 1948,
prompting a coalition of Arab nations—Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan—to
launch an attack that very day. The Arab coalition wanted to install the United State
of Palestine, foregoing the two-state solution that had been proposed by the 1947 UN
Partition Plan.
Jordan began the war by invading the Corpus separatum area around Jerusalem.
Fighting intensified. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), founded on May 26, managed
to eventually field more troops than the Arab countries and was able to gain ground
and air superiority over the Arab nations fairly quickly. From June to October, the
Israelis had the advantage, pushing back the Arab armies and gaining territory.
Several attempts at truces did not hold, and in late October, the IDF initiated opera-
tions in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, pushing out the remaining Arab troops and
holding 5,000 square kilometers more than the territory allotted Israel by the United
Nations. In early November, the United Nations proposed the creation of an armistice,
which Israel accepted on November 18. In 1949, the four primary Arab states in
the conflict also signed armistices with Israel, officially ending the conflict.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from May 14, 1948; End Date changed from
October 31, 1948.
MID#3386
Dispute Number: 3386
Date(s): December 23, 1949 to January 7, 1950
Participants: 651 Egypt/666 Israel
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: Missing
Narrative: This dispute was skirmish between Israeli and Egyptian forces in the
Negev Desert in late December 1949. Two weeks of sparse fighting followed the
initially intense clash, then the Egyptian troops withdrew back to their side of
the Egyptian border.
Coding changes: Outcome changed from Unclear.