Category: Atrocity, from Wikidata’s classes “massacre”, “genocide”, “mass murder”
Safsaf massacre
Part of: Nakba, 1948 Palestinian exodus
Wikidata classes on our event-class list: massacre, genocide, mass murder (all its classes: Wikidata item)
The Safsaf massacre took place on 29 October 1948, following the capture of the Palestinian Arab village of Safsaf in the Galilee by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The village was defended by the Arab Liberation Army's Second Yarmuk Battalion.
Safsaf was the first village to fall in Operation Hiram, the aim of which, according to the IDF, was to "destroy the enemy in the central Galilee 'pocket,' to take control of the whole of the Galilee and to establish a defense line on the country's northern border". The village was attacked by two platoons of armored cars and a tank company from the 7th Brigade, and a fierce battle lasted from the evening until seven o'clock the next morning.
Evidence of a massacre in which 50–70 villagers were killed by the IDF comes from several contemporaneous Israeli government sources and Arab oral history. The evidence suggests that 52 men had their hands tied, were shot and killed, and were buried in a pit. Several women reported allegations of rape by the IDF, including the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. At least two internal inquiries were initiated during 1948–49 by the IDF, but their reports remain classified.
Text retrieved 2026-10-06 from Wikipedia.
Cite this
The link is the Wikipedia revision of June 22, 2026 (revision 1360636260), whose lead is exactly the text shown here.
APA 7
Safsaf massacre. (2026, June 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safsaf_massacre&oldid=1360636260
MLA 9
“Safsaf massacre.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 June 2026, en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safsaf_massacre&oldid=1360636260.
Chicago (note)
Wikipedia, “Safsaf massacre,” last modified June 22, 2026, 18:26 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safsaf_massacre&oldid=1360636260.
Chicago (shortened note)
Wikipedia, “Safsaf massacre.”
Chicago cites well-known reference works such as Wikipedia in notes only, not in the bibliography.
This event on Middle East, 1900–present: https://middleeast.events/event/safsaf-massacre
If you use the map’s borders: CShapes 2.0 - historical country borders. Schvitz, G., et al. (2022). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. https://icr.ethz.ch/data/cshapes/ (modified by middleeast.events); West Bank Areas A/B/C: UN OCHA / HDX "Oslo Agreement" Areas A/B/C (West Bank). Distributed under the legacy HumanitarianResponse.info terms: non-commercial use with credit to UN OCHA. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/state-of-palestine-other-0-0-0-0-0; some corrected border points: GeoNames - CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://www.geonames.org/
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by Wikipedia contributors, from the article Safsaf massacre. Classes are Wikidata’s labels (CC0). “Part of” is Wikidata’s statement, in its labels (CC0).