Cairo–Haifa train bombings 1948
Two Lehi bombings on the Cairo–Haifa train in 1948.
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The Cairo–Haifa train was attacked twice in 1948 by the Zionist militant group Lehi. The first bombing, on February 29, targeted military coaches attached to the passenger express, killing 28 British soldiers. The second, on March 31, struck near Binyamina and killed 40 Arab civilians.
Background
The Cairo–Haifa train line came under attack starting in 1947. On April 22, a bomb near Rehovot killed five British officers, two Arab adults, and a three-year-old named Gilbert Balladi. On May 15, seven bombings occurred south of Lydda.
Between Acre and Haifa, one blast killed two British lieutenants and wounded others. Earlier that day, another bomb derailed an engine and two cars, injuring one passenger. A freight train derailment hurt three crew members, and three bridges were damaged.
Lehi reportedly gave warnings before these attacks. On August 9, Irgun bombed a British troop train north of Lydda, killing the Jewish engineer. On September 29, Irgun struck again twenty miles south of Haifa, derailing the engine, coal car, and two cabin cars, sending one person to the hospital.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Cairo–Haifa train bombings 1948 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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