1948 Arab–Israeli War
Type Arab armies IDF
Tanks Matilda tanks , R-39s , FT-17s , R35s , Panzer IVs ( dug in and used as stationary gun emplacements by Egypt ) , Fiat M13/40 , Sherman M4 , M-22 , Vickers MK-6 Cromwell tanks , H39s , M4 Sherman
APCs / IFVs British World War II era trucks , Humber Mk III & IV , Automitrailleuses Dodge/Bich type , improvised armored cars/trucks , Marmon-Herrington Armoured Cars , Universal Carriers , Lloyd Towing Carriers British World War II era trucks , improvised armored cars/trucks , White M3A1 Scout Cars , Daimler Armoured Cars , Universal Carriers , M3 Half-tracks , IHC M14 Half-tracks , M5 Half-tracks
Artillery Mortars , 15 cm sIG33 auf Pz IIs , 25 mm anti-tank guns on Bren carriers , improvised self-propelled guns used by Syrians in 1948-49 , 65 mm mountain guns on Lorraine 38L chenillettes , 2-pounder anti-tank guns , 6-pounder anti-tank guns Mortars , 2-inch ( 51 mm ) British mortars , 65 mm French howitzers ( Napoleonchiks ) , 120 mm French mortars , Davidka mortars
Aircraft Spitfires , T-6 Texans , C-47 Dakotas , Hawker Hurricanes , Avro Ansons Spitfires , Avia S-199s , B-17 Flying Fortresses , P-51 Mustangs , C-47 Dakotas
Small Arms Lee-Enfield rifles , Bren Guns , Sten guns , MAS 36s Sten guns , Mills grenades , Karabiner 98k ( Czech copies ) , Bren Guns , MP 40s , MG-34 Machine guns , Thompson submachine guns , Lee-Enfield rifles , Molotov cocktails , PIAT anti-tank infantry weapon
Weapons
Largely leftover World War II era weapons were used by both sides . Egypt had some British equipment ; the Syrian army had some French . German , Czechoslovak and British equipment was used by Israel . [ 216 ]
The 1948 (or First) Arab-Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1947-49 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had been issued earlier that day, and a military coalition of Arab states entered the territory of British Palestine in the morning of 15 May. The first deaths of the 1947-49 Palestine war occurred on 30 November 1947 during an ambush of two buses carrying Jews. There had been tension and conflict between the Arabs and the Jews, and between each of them and the British forces since the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1920 creation of the British Mandate of Palestine. British policies dissatisfied both Arabs and Jews. Arabs opposition developed into the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, while the Jewish resistance developed into the Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944-1947). In 1947, these on-going tensions erupted into civil war following the 29 November 1947 adoption of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which planned to divide Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and the Special International Regime encompassing the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. On 15 May 1948, the civil war transformed into a conflict between Israel and the Arab states following the Israeli Declaration of Independence the previous day. Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and expeditionary forces from Iraq entered Palestine. The invading forces took control of the Arab areas and immediately attacked Israeli forces and several Jewish settlements. The 10 months of fighting took place mostly on the territory of the British Mandate and in the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon, interrupted by several truce periods. As a result of the war, the State of Israel controlled the area that UN General Assembly Resolution 181 had recommended for the proposed Jewish state, as well as almost 60-percent of the area of Arab state proposed by the 1947 Partition Plan, including the Jaffa, Lydda, and Ramle area, Galilee, some parts of the Negev, a wide strip along the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road, West Jerusalem, and some territories in the West Bank.