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1948-49
Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion's declaration in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, that Israel was an independent state triggered an invasion by Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Over the next 15 months, the Israelis expanded their holdings to northern Galilee and southern Negev. The ensuing armistice divided Jerusalem between Israel and Jordan, but the fate of 400,000 Palestinian Arabs who fled Israel during the fighting and were in camps near the border was not resolved.