An early pilot · A community project
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This is an early pilot. Its records were gathered with AI help from cited sources and are still being checked, so don’t rely on them yet, and tell us if something is wrong.
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مجزرة اللد ومسيرة الموت
Date qualified9–13 July 1948
Lydda
Between 9 and 13 July 1948 Israeli forces took Lydda in Operation Dani. More than four hundred people were killed in the city, among them those sheltering in the Dahmash mosque, and some 70,000 people of Lydda and the surrounding towns were driven out on foot toward Ramallah.
Assisted a surgeon treating the wounded in Lydda; expelled with his family when the town fell
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography)
Forced out of Lydda with his family on 13 July 1948, on foot to Ramallah
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography)
Linked context in the legacy record
Israeli forces took Lydda in Operation Dani, named after a Palmach officer killed in January 1948.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: On the Eve of the Massacre
Editorial paraphrase · enOperation Dani, named after a Palmach officer killed in January 1948.
Link to this citationThose who had taken shelter in the Dahmash mosque were shot: between 80 and 176 people were killed there. The encyclopedia estimates that the dead inside the city exceeded four hundred.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Chronology of the Massacre
Editorial paraphrase · enBetween 80 and 176 people were shot in the Dahmash Mosque; the dead inside the city are estimated to have exceeded 400.
Link to this citationAsked what should become of the inhabitants, David Ben-Gurion answered “Expel them”, and Yitzhak Rabin signed an order that the inhabitants of Lydda be expelled quickly, without regard to age. About 70,000 people of Lydda and the surrounding towns were forced to leave within half an hour, on a rugged path toward Ramallah; hundreds died on the way of thirst, dehydration and exhaustion.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: The Forced Expulsion of the People of Lydda
Editorial paraphrase · enBen-Gurion answered “Expel them”; Rabin signed the expulsion order; about 70,000 were forced out toward Ramallah and hundreds died on the way.
Link to this citationSources & evidence
Contextual sources are further reading. Precise supporting passages appear alongside the chapters.
article · PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies
Account by Sana Hammoudi, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (Institute for Palestine Studies).
Reference metadata and an original summary only. No permission to copy or host the source’s text, photographs, audio or video is asserted.
photograph · Wikimedia Commons
The photograph shown with this event: The Dahmash mosque in Lydda, July 1948.
Public domain in Israel, its term of copyright having expired (Wikimedia Commons: PD-Israel).
9–13 July 1948 · duration
EVERY RECORD IS PART OF A LARGER STORY
PersonGeorge Habash participated in EventThe Lydda massacre and death march
Role: Assisted a surgeon treating the wounded in Lydda; expelled with his family when the town fell
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography).
PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · supports · section: “Habash, his parents, and his siblings were among those expelled.”
Evidence version:palquest-george-habash-biography:v1References show the basis of this connection; their count is not a measure of independent corroboration.
PersonIsmail Shammout participated in EventThe Lydda massacre and death march
Role: Forced out of Lydda with his family on 13 July 1948, on foot to Ramallah
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography).
PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · supports · section: “Three days after the fall of Lydda and Ramla to the Zionist forces, on 13 July 1948, Shammout and his family (along with the inhabitants of the two towns) were forced to leave and go on foot to Ramallah and were not allowed to carry water.”
Evidence version:palquest-ismail-shammout-biography:v1References show the basis of this connection; their count is not a measure of independent corroboration.