The Carmeli Brigade

The Carmeli Brigade was one of the brigades of the Zionist Haganah organization during the Nakba and the occupation of Palestine in 1948. It operated primarily in **Haifa, western Galilee, and the Acre District**. The brigade participated in the operations that accompanied the occupation of Haifa and its surrounding area, and later played a major role in the occupation of Palestinian villages north of Acre up to the Lebanese border. It also participated in Operations Dekel, Shoter, and Hiram.

Among its prominent operations was **Operation Bi'ur Hametz**, carried out between 22 and 24 April 1948. The operation aimed to consolidate control over the hinterland of Haifa following the city's occupation and was associated with the capture of villages including **al-Rihaniyya, Khirbat al-Mansura, and Umm al-Zinat**, as well as military operations in the vicinity of Balad al-Shaykh.

One of the brigade's most significant campaigns was **Operation Ben-Ami**, carried out between 13 and 21 May 1948. The Carmeli Brigade conducted the operation with the aim of taking control of Palestinian coastal villages extending northward from Acre to the Lebanese border. Among the villages whose occupation or displacement was associated with the brigade during this operation were **al-Bassa, al-Birwa, al-Sumayriyya, al-Manshiyya, al-Zib, Umm al-Faraj, al-Tall, al-Nahr, al-Kabri, and al-Ghabisiyya**. Palestinian sources document military orders issued to the brigade before the second phase of the operation that called for the occupation of al-Kabri, Umm al-Faraj, and al-Nahr, and for the villages to be destroyed and burned.

The Carmeli Brigade also participated in **Operation Dekel** in July 1948, with its First Battalion taking part in the first phase of the offensive against villages in western Galilee. Units of the brigade also participated alongside the Golani and Alexandroni brigades in **Operation Shoter** against the villages of the “Little Triangle”: **Ijzim, Jaba', and Ayn Ghazal**. In late October 1948, the brigade also took part in **Operation Hiram**, which resulted in the occupation of Upper Galilee and the displacement of the inhabitants of many Palestinian villages.

Among the most prominent Palestinian villages whose occupation or the displacement of their inhabitants was directly associated with the Carmeli Brigade, or with military operations in which it participated, were:

**al-Rihaniyya, Khirbat al-Mansura, Umm al-Zinat, Balad al-Shaykh, al-Bassa, al-Birwa, al-Sumayriyya, al-Manshiyya, al-Zib, Umm al-Faraj, al-Tall, al-Nahr, al-Kabri, al-Ghabisiyya, Ijzim, Jaba', and Ayn Ghazal.**

The brigade was also associated with other operations in Galilee, including **Dekel and Hiram**. However, because several brigades participated in these operations, each village should be examined individually before attributing its occupation or the displacement of its inhabitants directly to the Carmeli Brigade.