Tel Aviv  - The conflict known as the first Arab-Israeli War broke out on May 15, 1948, when five Arab armies invaded the one-day- old Jewish state. However, fighting had erupted long before this date between local Jews and local Arabs supported by volunteers from neighbouring states.

For the Israelis, it was the bloodiest of the country's seven wars, with around 6,000 killed, almost 1 per cent of the country's Jewish population at the time.

It was also the last time Israel found itself facing an opposing force that did not overwhelmingly outnumber its own. Between 35,000 to 45,000 Israel soldiers were pitted against 42,000 to 54,0000 troops from the Arab countries.

The disparity was more marked in weapons than in the manpower available on both sides. A Western arms embargo on the conflict meant the Israelis had little access to modern weapons.

But, foreseeing this eventuality, the Jewish leadership in Palestine had dispatched emissaries abroad to secure weapons by whatever means.

Other weapons, including two Cromwell tanks, were obtained - allegedly through the black market or stolen - from the British Army which was getting ready to depart Palestine as its mandate came to an end.

Among the most serious consequences, the Arab-Israel War rendered at least 726,000 Palestinians homeless and stateless once the fighting ended.

Some Israeli historians insist the Palestinians left their homes voluntarily, egged on by Arab commanders who did not want civilians to get in the way of the fighting, and with promises they could return once the Jews were vanquished.

Others say they were expelled, for example, from the previously Arab towns of Lod and Ramle as well as from hundreds of villages which no longer exist.

While the historical debate continues, the issue of the Palestinian refugees has remained unresolved to this day.

Their fate, and that of their descendents still living in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and in Arab countries, is one of the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The war itself however was to be decisive for Israel's existence. Contrary to the expectations of the apparently overconfident Arab armies and most foreign military experts, the Jewish state survived.

It also controlled 50 per cent more territory than allocated to it under the 1947 United Nations plan that originally recommended Palestine to be partitioned into separate Jewish and Arab states.

If the Arab armies were defeated on the battlefield, the biggest losers from the war were the Palestinians. After the armistice agreements were signed in 1949, Jordan continued ruling the West Bank, eventually annexing it and East Jerusalem.

The Gaza Strip, where the Israelis had failed to dislodge the Egyptian army, remained under Egyptian military control until 1967, with its inhabitants considered stateless persons.

The actual fighting of the conflict can be divided into several phases.

The first phase, between local Jews and local Arabs, lasted from 29 November 1947 - immediately after the United Nations announced its partition plan - to April 1, 1948, and saw the Palestinians take the offensive, attacking Jewish communities. The Jews suffered severe casualties and lost control over most of the country's inter-urban roads.

In the second phase, from April 1 to May 15, 1948, the Jews were more successful and captured, among other locations, the Arab sectors of Tiberius and Haifa, as well as Safed and Acre and temporarily clearing the way to besieged Jerusalem.

The third phase, from May 15 to July 19, saw five armies from neighbouring states invade Israel. The newly-formed Israel Defence Force suffered initial setbacks but eventually halted the offensive.

During the fourth phase, which opened on July 19, 1948, Israel seized the initiative, opening the road to the Negev desert in the south and and capturing Beersheba, and capturing the Upper Galilee.

In March 1949, Israeli troops reached Um Rush Rush, better known today as Eilat, at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. It was the last action of the conflict which Israelis recall as the War of Independence, whilst it became known among Palestinians as the "Disaster" ("Naqba").

On February 24, 1949, Israel and Egypt signed an armistice agreement. This was followed by similar agreements with Lebanon on March 23, 1949 with Jordan on April 3, 1949 and with Syria on July 20, 1949.

The armistice lines remained in place, serving as Israel's de facto borders until the 1967 war, which saw the Israelis capture the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. (dpa)