The Kfar Etzion massacre refers to a massacre of Jews that took place after a two-day battle in which Jewish Kibbutz residents and Haganah militia defended Kfar Etzion from a combined force of the Arab Legion and local Arab men on May 13, 1948, the day before the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Of the 127 Haganah fighters and Jewish kibbutzniks who died during the defence of the settlement, Martin Gilbert states that fifteen were killed on surrendering.
Arab Legion Major Abdullah el Tell (far right) with Captain Hikmat Mihyar (far left) pose with two of the four Jewish survivors of the Fall of Gush Etzion. Around May 13, 1948.
Kfar Etzion 1945 1:250,000
Casualties of the Convoy of 35 being brought to burial in January 1948
Funeral procession leaving from Jewish Agency building, Jerusalem
Kfar Etzion is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a religious kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, established in 1927, depopulated in 1948 and re-established in 1967. It is located 4.7 km east of the Green Line and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. In 2022, Kfar Etzion had a population of 1,371.
Kfar Etzion
Kfar Etzion water tank, 1943
Kfar Etzion (Kefir 'Etsyon) 1945, 1:250,000
Kfar Etzion 1945
