Battle of Karameh

It was planned by Israel as two concurrent raids on PLO camps, one in Karameh and one in the distant village of Safi — codenamed Operation Inferno ( ) and Operation Asuta (מבצע אסותא), respectively — but the former turned into a full-scale battle. The attacks were in reprisal for a series of raids by the PLO against Israel, mostly by the Fatah faction, which culminated in an Israeli school bus hitting a mine. Israel assumed that the Jordanian Army would ignore the invasion, but the latter fought alongside the Palestinians and inflicted losses upon the Israeli forces. This engagement marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian forces. The Israelis withdrew at the end of a day's battle, having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken hundreds of prisoners. On a tactical level, the battle went in Israel's favor and the purpose of the mission was achieved, but for the Palestinians, it became a victory that established their national claims. At first, the battle was seen as unifying the Hashemite Jordan with its many Palestinian refugees and residents, as King Hussein had proclaimed, "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen ." After the battle, however, the PLO's strength began to grow, and Palestinians spoke openly of taking over Jordan as part of Palestine . This situation eventually led to Black September in Jordan , in 1970.

It was planned by Israel as one of two concurrent raids on PLO camps, one in Karameh and one in the distant village of Safi—codenamed Operation Inferno ( ) and Operation Asuta (מבצע אסותא), respectively—but the former turned into a full-scale battle. After Jordan lost control of the West Bank to Israel in 1967 , Palestinian fighters known as fedayeen moved their bases to Jordan and stepped up their attacks on Israel and Israeli-occupied territories , taking the border town of Karameh as their headquarters. The IDF claimed that the purpose was to destroy the fedayeen camps at Karameh, and to capture Yasser Arafat , the leader of the PLO as reprisal. Israel also wanted to punish Jordan for its perceived support to the fedayeen. A large Israeli force launched an attack on the town on the dawn of 21 March, supported by fighter jets. Israel assumed the Jordanian Army would choose to not get involved in the battle, but the latter deployed heavy artillery fire, while the Palestinian irregulars engaged in guerrilla warfare . The Israelis withdrew, or were repulsed, after a day-long battle, having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken around 140 PLO members prisoner. The engagement marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian fighters. The battle resulted in the issuance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 248 , which unanimously condemned Israel for violating the cease-fire line and its disproportionate use of force. On a tactical level, the battle went in Israel's favor, as the aim of destroying the Karameh camp was achieved. On the other hand, Arafat was not captured, and the relatively high casualties sustained came as a considerable surprise for the Israelis. They failed to retrieve three dead soldiers that were left behind in Karameh along with several damaged Israeli vehicles and tanks—later paraded in Amman by the Jordanian Army. The battle gained wide acclaim and recognition in the Arab world, and the following period witnessed an upsurge of support from Arab countries to the fedayeen in Jordan. The Palestinians had limited success in inflicting Israeli casualties, but King Hussein allowed them to take credit. After the battle, Hussein proclaimed, "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen". However, as the PLO's strength began to grow in the aftermath, the fedayeen began to speak openly of overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy , and the ensuing tensions with the Jordanian authorities eventually precipitated in their expulsion to Lebanon during the events of Black September in 1970. Long-lasting peaces: Overcoming the war-peace hiatus for a sustainable future . The New York Times . 28 March 1968 . A Political, Social, and Military History: A Political, Social, and Military History . The Jordan News. 26 March 2015 . A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy, University of Michigan Press, 2006, pages 244–246 Nasser A. The making of a human bomb: state expansion and modes of resistance in Palestine .

It was planned by Israel as one of two concurrent raids on PLO camps, one in Karameh and one in the distant village of Safi. After Jordan lost control of the West Bank to Israel in 1967 , Palestinian fighters known as fedayeen moved their bases to Jordan and stepped up their attacks on Israel and Israeli-occupied territories , taking the border town of Karameh as their headquarters. The IDF claimed that the purpose was to destroy the fedayeen camps at Karameh, and to capture Yasser Arafat , the leader of the PLO as reprisal. Israel also wanted to punish Jordan for its perceived support to the fedayeen. A large Israeli force launched an attack on the town on the dawn of 21 March, supported by fighter jets. Israel assumed the Jordanian Army would choose to not get involved in the battle, but the latter deployed heavy artillery fire, while the Palestinian irregulars engaged in guerrilla warfare . The Israelis withdrew, or were repulsed, after a day-long battle, having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken around 140 PLO members prisoner. The engagement marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian fighters. The battle resulted in the issuance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 248 , which unanimously condemned Israel for violating the cease-fire line and its disproportionate use of force. On a tactical level, the battle went in Israel's favor, as the aim of destroying the Karameh camp was achieved. On the other hand, Arafat was not captured, and the relatively high casualties sustained came as a considerable surprise for the Israelis. They failed to retrieve three dead soldiers that were left behind in Karameh along with several damaged Israeli vehicles and tanks—later paraded in Amman by the Jordanian Army. The battle gained wide acclaim and recognition in the Arab world, and the following period witnessed an upsurge of support from Arab countries to the fedayeen in Jordan. The Palestinians had limited success in inflicting Israeli casualties, but King Hussein allowed them to take credit. After the battle, Hussein proclaimed, "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen". However, as the PLO's strength began to grow in the aftermath, the fedayeen began to speak openly of overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy , and the ensuing tensions with the Jordanian authorities eventually precipitated in their expulsion to Lebanon during the events of Black September in 1970. Long-lasting peaces: Overcoming the war-peace hiatus for a sustainable future . The New York Times . 28 March 1968 . A Political, Social, and Military History: A Political, Social, and Military History . The Jordan News. 26 March 2015 . A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy, University of Michigan Press, 2006, pages 244–246 Nasser A. The making of a human bomb: state expansion and modes of resistance in Palestine .

1968 battle between Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian forces during the War of Attrition Belligerents Israel Jordan Palestine Liberation Organization Fatah PLA Commanders and leaders Levi Eshkol Uzi Narkiss Moshe Dayan King Hussein Amer Khammash Mashour Haditha Asad Ghanma Yasser Arafat Abu Iyad Abu Jihad Abu Ali Iyad Strength About 15,000 47 tanks (1 armored brigade 1 infantry brigade 1 paratroop battalion 1 engineering battalion 5 artillery battalions) 2nd armored division (10 artillery batteries 4 brigades 1 Patton tank battalion ) 900 –1000 fighters Casualties and losses Israel : 28 – 33 dead 69 – 161 wounded 27 tanks damaged, 4 left behind 2 APCs 2 vehicles 1 aircraft Jordan : 40 –84 dead 108 – 250 wounded 4 captured 28 tanks damaged, 2 captured PLO: 156 dead ~100 wounded 141 captured 175 buildings destroyed The Battle of Karameh ( Arabic : معركة الكرامة ) was a 15-hour military engagement between Israel and the combined forces of Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Jordanian border town of Karameh during the War of Attrition on 21 March 1968. It was planned by Israel as one of two concurrent raids on PLO camps, one in Karameh along the Jordan River and the other in the distant village of Ghor es-Safi south of the Dead Sea . After Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 , Palestinian fighters, also known as fedayeen , moved to Jordan and stepped up their attacks on Israel and the occupied territories , basing themselves in Karameh. Israel stated that it aimed to destroy fedayeen camps at Karameh, and to capture the leader of the PLO Yasser Arafat as reprisal. Israel also wanted to punish Jordan for its perceived support to the fedayeen. A large Israeli force launched an attack on the town on the dawn of 21 March, supported by fighter jets. Israel assumed the Jordanian Army would choose to not get involved in the battle, but the latter deployed heavy artillery fire, while the Palestinian irregulars engaged in guerrilla warfare . The Israelis withdrew, or were repulsed, after a day-long battle. On a tactical level, Israel managed to destroy most of the Karameh camp and take around a hundred PLO fighters as prisoners. While on a political level, Jordan and the PLO inflicted relatively high casualties on the Israelis, who left behind three dead soldiers in Karameh along with several damaged Israeli vehicles and tanks—later paraded in Amman by the Jordanian Army. The engagement also marked the first known deployment of suicide bombers by Palestinian fighters, and the issuance of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 248 , which unanimously condemned Israel for violating the cease-fire line and its disproportionate use of force. The battle gained wide acclaim and recognition in the Arab world, and the following period witnessed an upsurge of support from Arab countries to the fedayeen in Jordan. The Palestinians had limited success in inflicting Israeli casualties, but King Hussein allowed them to take credit, to the point of proclaiming "we are all fedayeen". As the PLO's strength began to grow in the aftermath, the fedayeen began to speak openly of overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy , and the ensuing tensions with the Jordanian authorities eventually precipitated in their expulsion to Lebanon in 1971, marking the end of the Black September conflict. Long-lasting peaces: Overcoming the war-peace hiatus for a sustainable future . The New York Times . 23 March 1968 . A Political, Social, and Military History: A Political, Social, and Military History . The Jordan News. 26 March 2015 . A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy, University of Michigan Press, 2006, pages 244–246 Nasser A. The making of a human bomb: state expansion and modes of resistance in Palestine .