In response to hundreds of fighters from Bayt Daras attacking Kibbutz Nitzanim , the village was subject to an Israeli counteroffensive military assault four times , . It was defended by the Sudanese Army and a number of local militiamen and , according to Ramzy Baroud , subjected to heavy shelling on March 27 – 28 , 1948 , in which nine villagers died and much of the crops were destroyed . The objective of the Palmach 's operational plan , ' Operation Lightning ' ( '' Mivtza Barak '' ) was to compel the Arab inhabitants of the area to ' move ' and by striking one or more population centres to cause an exodus , which was foreseen given the wave of panic that was sweeping Arab communities after the Deir Yassin massacre . Bayt Daras was targeted to be surrounded , to have the villagers surrender and hand over their arms , and if this order was resisted , it was to be mortared , stormed and ' dealt with in the manner of scorched earth ' . It was finally captured by military assault on May 11 , 1948 by the Givati Brigade during Operation Barak , just prior to the outbreak of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War . The village suffered some 50 casualties , and many houses were then blown up , and wells and granaries sabotaged . Bayt Daras had a population of 3,190 living in 709 houses in 1948 . In Baroud 's account , a massacre took place as people fled the village
Deir Yassin massacre
Deir Yassin massacre
Bayt Daras