On 14.05.1948 zionist settlers proclaim the state of Israel.
Acts of terror during this period (e.g. massacre of Deir Yassin on 9.04.1948) provoke stampedes among civilians:
between 700,000 and one million Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, flee or are expelled from their villages.
In reaction to the UN resolution being broken by the unilateral declaration of statehood and in order to protect the civilian population several Arab nations dispatch troops into Palestine.
These form the "Arab Legion", consisting of military units from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
The troops are not well trained nor adequately equipped and their military campaigns are coordinated in an insufficient way.
Attempts by the UN to mediate fail initially.
The UN representative, Count Bernadotte, is murdered by zionist terrorists on 17.09.1948. His successor is Ralph Bunche.
A cease-fire is finally reached on 7.01.1949, formal bilateral armistice agreements are signed between 24.02.1949 and 20.07.1949 .
The agreed cease-fire lines act as lines of demarcation between Jews and Arabs until 1967.
The so called "Westbank" stays (after withdrawal of other Arab troops) under Transjordanian control, the "Gaza Strip" is occupied by Egypt.
This Phase is known in history as an-Nakbah, "The Catastrophe". It describes, besides the loss of land and hope for sovereignty, the million Palestinians expelled from their homes and their fate.
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