Israel: The outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, marking the end of Ottoman rule and the British Mandate in Palestine.

Following the proclamation, on May 15, 1948, forces from five Arab nations—Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq—along with contingents from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, crossed the borders. This initiated the first Arab-Israeli War, referred to as the War of Independence in Israel and the Nakba in Arab historiography.

The conflict followed the United Nations' Resolution 181, passed on November 29, 1947, which recommended partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem under an international regime. While the Jewish community accepted the plan, the Arab League and local Arab leaders rejected it. The ensuing war involved multiple fronts, including Egyptian advances from the Sinai desert and Jordanian Arab Legion attacks on Jerusalem.