The Deir Yassin massacre was carried out in a village west of Jerusalem that had signed a non-belligerency pact with its Jewish neighbors and the Haganah , and repeatedly had barred entry to foreign irregulars . On 9 April approximately 120 Irgun and Lehi members began an operation to capture the village . During the operation , the villagers fiercely resisted the attack , and a battle broke out . In the end , the Irgun and Lehi forces advanced gradually through house-to-house fighting . The village was only taken after the Irgun began systematically dynamiting houses , and after a Palmach unit intervened and employed mortar fire to silence the villagers ' sniper positions . The operation resulted in five Jewish fighters dead and 40 injured . Some 100 to 120 villagers were also killed
Deir Yassin massacre
Deir Yassin massacre
Irgun