What Happened?

July 22, 1946: A stolen truck pulled up to the side of the King David Hotel after passing all of the safety measures put up by the British Military. Approximately 15 militants, some of whom were dressed to look like Arabs, exited the truck. The militants entered the basement with milk churns that contained 350 kg (770 lbs) of explosives with a timed detonation device attached.

A diversionary bomb went off in front of the YMCA across the street from the hotel, causing those injured to seek refuge at the hotel. Another small bomb went off in front of a small shop across the street. The attack injured 46 people and 91 were killed, a majority of whom were innocent civilians.

Out of the 91 killed, 21 were government officials, 49 were low-level clerks and hotel employees, 13 British soldiers, 3 police men, and 5 bystanders; 41 were Arabs, 28 British, 17 Jews, 2 Armenians, 1 Russian, 1 Greek, and 1 Egyptian.

Read More: King David Hotel Bombing & Menachem Begin

References

Bell, J. B. (1977). Terror out of Zion: The fight for Israeli Independence. St. Martin’s Press.

Walid, Khalidi (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 

Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge Middle East Studies, Series Number 18.

Pictorial and Evidence

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