How Yarmouk Came About: Israel’s Unabashed Role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis | Ramzy Baroud

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Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust

Sept. 16, 2015

When Zionist Haganah militias carried out Operation Yiftach, on May 19, 1948, the aim was to drive Palestinians in the northern Safad District, which had declared its independence a mere five days earlier, outside the border of Israel.

The ethnic cleansing of Safad and its many villages was not unique to that area. In fact, it was the modus operandi of Zionist militias throughout Palestine. Soon after Israel’s independence, and the conquering of historic Palestine, the militias were joined together to form the Israeli armed forces.

Not all villages, however, were completely depopulated. Some residents in villages like Qaytiyya near the River Jordan, remained in their homes. The village, located between two tributaries of the Jordan -- al-Hasbani and Dan rivers -- hoped that normality would return to their once tranquil village once the war subsides.

Their fate, however, was worse than that of those who were forced out, or who fled for fear of a terrible fate. Israeli forces returned nearly a year later, rounded the remaining villagers into large trucks, tortured many and dumped the villagers somewhere south of Safad. Little is known about their fate, but many of those who survived ended up in Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria.

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