As the British evacuation from the region progressed , the violence became more prevalent . Murders , reprisals , and counter-reprisals came fast on each other 's heels , resulting in dozens of victims killed on both sides in the process . The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9 , 1948 , when around 120 fighters from the Irgun Zevai Leumi and the Israeli Stern Gang Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem , a Palestinian Arab village of roughly 600 people . The sanguinary impasse persisted as no force intervened to put a stop to the escalating cycles of violence . During the first two months of the war , about 1,000 people were killed and 2,000 injured . By the end of March , the figure had risen to 2,000 dead and 4,000 wounded
Deir Yassin massacre
Deir Yassin massacre
History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict