Britain ruled Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq under League of Nations Mandates. France controlled Syria and Lebanon. 1936-39 Palestinian nationalist uprising against Britain. Britain proposes partition of Palestine and expulsion of 250,000 Palestinians. Holocaust kills nearly six million Jews.
Many survivors look to Palestine for refuge.
Jewish groups in Palestine try to expel Britain. Mainstream Jewish fighters under David Ben Gurion are called Hagana. They later become the Israeli army. Many British soldiers and Arab civilians are killed. In Resolution 181 the UN votes to partition Palestine into Jewish and Palestinian states with an international enclave around Jerusalem and Bethlehem.