The Battle of Mishmar ha-'Emeq

The Battle of Mishmar ha-'Emeq began on 4 April 1948, when the Arab Liberation Army under the command of Fawzi al-Qawuqji launched an attack on the Zionist settlement of Mishmar ha-'Emeq. After the offensive stalled and a British-mediated truce was proposed, the Haganah rejected limiting the fighting to the truce and launched a broad counteroffensive against the surrounding Palestinian villages.

The counteroffensive involved units from the Palmach as well as the Carmeli and Alexandroni Brigades. On the night of 8–9 April, these forces advanced into several nearby villages, including Abu Zurayq, Abu Shusha, and al-Naghnaghiyya. The fighting continued over the following days, during which additional Palestinian villages were captured, their inhabitants displaced, and many of their buildings demolished.

By mid-April 1948, Zionist forces had taken control of roughly ten Palestinian villages around Mishmar ha-'Emeq. The battle and the Haganah counteroffensive that followed therefore became an important stage in the occupation and depopulation of Palestinian villages in the Marj ibn Amir region before the establishment of Israel in May 1948.