1948 Arab–Israeli War (Southern Victory)

1948 Arab–Israeli War Beginning: 15 May 1948 End: 7 January 1949 Place: Israel (former Mandate Palestine), Sinai Peninsula, southern Lebanon Outcome: Israeli and Confederate victory, tactical and strategic Arab failure, Armistice Agreements Combatants Israel Confederate States of America California Egypt Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Syria Transjordan Lebanon Iraq Saudi Arabia Yemen Holy War Army Arab Liberation Army Muslim Brotherhood Commanders David Ben-Gurion Omar Bradley Chaim Weizmann Yigael Yadin Yaakov Dori David Shaltiel Isser Be'eri Moshe Dayan Yisrael Galili Yigal Allon Yitzhak Rabin Shimon Avidan Yitzhak Pundak Yisrael Amir John Bagot Glubb Norman Lash Habis al-Majali Hasan Salama † Fawzi Al-Qawuqji Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi Haj Amin Al-Husseini King Farouk I Muhammad Naguib Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam Husni al-Za'im Strength Confederacy: 1,057,000 Israel: 29,677 Egypt: 10,000 initially, rising to 20,000 Iraq: 3,000 initially, rising to 15,000–18,000 Syria: 2,500–5,000 Transjordan: 8,000–12,000 Lebanon: 1,000 Saudi Arabia: 800–1,200 Yemen: 300 Arab Liberation Army: 3,500–6,000 Casualties and Losses 7,165 10,000 – 23,000

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence (Hebrew: מלחמת העצמאות or מלחמת הקוממיות‎, Milkhemet Ha'atzma'ut or Milkhemet Hakomemmiyut) or War of Liberation (Hebrew: מלחמת השחרור‎, Milkhemet Hashikhrur)

The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded Palestine, escalating the war to one between sovereign states. The fighting took place mostly on the former territory of the British Mandate and for a short time also in the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon.

Much of what Palestinian Arabs refer to as The Catastrophe (Arabic: النكبة‎, al-Nakba), occurred amidst this war. The war is also considered among the main triggers of the Jewish exodus from Arab countries, initiating the first exodus wave of Egyptian, as well as other Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities.

The war concluded with the 1949 Armistice Agreements.