The War of 1948: A Geopolitical, Military, and Demographic Analysis of the Foundational Middle East Conflict

Written By Pieter Lamper

1. Introduction: The Collapse of the Colonial Order and the Genesis of Regional Conflict

The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, known in Israeli historiography as the War of Independence (Milchemet HaAtzma'ut) and in the Palestinian and Arab narrative as the Catastrophe (al-Nakba), constitutes the tectonic event of the modern Middle East. It was not merely a military contest over the control of Mandatory Palestine but a comprehensive geopolitical and demographic earthquake that dismantled the British colonial order, established the State of Israel, displaced the majority of the indigenous Palestinian Arab population, and sowed the seeds for a century of regional instability. The conflict's legacy is etched into the physical borders, the demographic distribution, and the political psyche of the region, defining the parameters of every subsequent Arab-Israeli confrontation.

This conflict did not erupt in a vacuum; it was the violent culmination of half a century of friction between two distinct national movements—Zionism and Palestinian Arab nationalism—claiming the same small territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The war unfolded in two distinct, methodologically separate phases: a fierce intercommunal civil war between the Jewish Yishuv and local Palestinian Arab militias under the waning authority of the British Mandate (November 29, 1947, to May 14, 1948), and a high-intensity interstate conventional war involving the invasion of regular Arab armies following the Israeli Declaration of Independence (May 15, 1948, to July 1949). This report provides an exhaustive analysis of these phases, the military disparities, the profound demographic upheavals, and the enduring geopolitical consequences that continue to shape the contemporary world.1

1.1 The Diplomatic Prelude: The UNSCOP Inquiry and Resolution 181

The immediate catalyst for the outbreak of hostilities was the decision by the British government, exhausted by World War II and unable to contain the rising violence in Palestine, to refer the "Palestine Question" to the United Nations in 1947. The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was formed to investigate the situation and propose a solution. Unlike previous commissions, UNSCOP members were drawn from nations with no direct colonial history in the region, theoretically ensuring impartiality.

The majority report produced by UNSCOP recommended the termination of the British Mandate and the partition of the territory into two sovereign states—one Jewish and one Arab—retaining an economic union. Jerusalem and its immediate environs (including Bethlehem) were to be designated as a corpus separatum, an international zone administered by the UN Trusteeship Council, acknowledging the city's sanctity to the three monotheistic faiths. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted on this proposal as Resolution 181.

The geopolitical maneuvering behind the vote was intense. The United States and the Soviet Union, in a rare moment of Cold War alignment, both supported the partition, albeit for different strategic reasons—the U.S. driven by domestic political pressures and humanitarian concern for Holocaust survivors, the Soviets by a desire to eject British imperialism from the Middle East. The resolution passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions.

The partition plan allocated approximately 56% of the territory to the Jewish state, a decision heavily criticized by Arab leaders given that the Jewish population owned only about 7% of the land and constituted roughly one-third of the total population at the time. However, a significant portion of this allocation included the Negev Desert, which was largely uninhabited and viewed as a potential zone for absorbing Jewish refugees from Europe. The Arab state was allocated 43% of the land, including the central hill country (modern-day West Bank), the Gaza strip, and a portion of the Galilee.4

The reaction was starkly polarized. The Zionist leadership, led by David Ben-Gurion and the Jewish Agency, accepted the plan, viewing it as an indispensable legal foundation for sovereignty, despite the difficult borders it proposed. In contrast, the Arab Higher Committee, representing the Palestinian Arabs, and the Arab League vehemently rejected the resolution. They argued that it violated the principles of self-determination enshrined in the UN Charter, imposing a partition on the indigenous majority against its will. This diplomatic rupture did not result in further negotiations; instead, it translated immediately into violence on the ground. The morning after the vote, Palestinian militants attacked a Jewish bus near Petah Tikva, signaling the commencement of the civil war phase.1

2. The Civil War Phase (November 1947 – May 1948)

The first six months of the conflict were characterized by a descent into chaos as the British administration dismantled its apparatus and withdrew. This phase is best understood not as a war of front lines, but as a "war of the roads" and a battle for the dominance of mixed cities. The British, officially responsible for law and order until May 15, 1948, adopted a policy of minimal intervention, focusing primarily on protecting their own evacuation routes. This created a security vacuum that both the Haganah (the primary Jewish paramilitary organization) and Palestinian irregulars scrambled to fill.

2.1 The War of the Roads and the Siege of Jerusalem

The Palestinian strategic objective in the early months was to isolate outlying Jewish settlements and, most critically, to severe the lifeline to Jerusalem. The Holy City was home to approximately 100,000 Jews, roughly one-sixth of the Jewish population of Palestine, who lived in a precarious enclave surrounded by Arab villages and hostile terrain. Arab irregular forces, organizing under the banner of the Holy War Army (Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas) and led by the charismatic commander Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, capitalized on the topography of the Judean Hills.

They seized the high ground overlooking the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, particularly at the bottleneck of Bab al-Wad (The Gate of the Valley). From these ridges, gunmen could easily ambush Jewish supply convoys, destroying trucks and armored buses with impunity. By March 1948, this strategy had achieved considerable success. The Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine) faced a dire logistical crisis; convoys were consistently decimated, losing vehicles and personnel at an unsustainable rate. Jerusalem began to starve. The Jewish leadership introduced severe rationing for food and water, and the specter of the city's capitulation loomed large.9

During this period, the Haganah largely adhered to a defensive doctrine known as the havlaga (restraint), conducting convoy escorts but refraining from conquering Arab villages to secure the routes permanently. This defensive posture, however, proved insufficient against the tightening chokehold on the city. The crisis of March 1948 forced a fundamental strategic re-evaluation within the Zionist high command.



2.2 Plan Dalet and the Strategic Shift

In response to the potential fall of Jerusalem and the imminent invasion of Arab regular armies, the Haganah General Staff formulated "Plan Dalet" (Plan D) in March 1948. This operational order marked the transition from defense to offense. Its explicit goal was to secure a contiguous territorial base for the Jewish state by gaining control of the areas allocated to it by the UN, as well as settlement blocs outside those borders (like Jerusalem) and the roads connecting them.

Plan Dalet remains one of the most controversial aspects of the 1948 war. Palestinian historians, such as Walid Khalidi, and "New Historians" like Ilan Pappé, argue that Plan Dalet was a blueprint for the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine, citing operational orders that permitted the destruction of villages and the expulsion of inhabitants if they resisted. Other historians, such as Benny Morris, contend that while the plan authorized expulsions as a military necessity to secure rear areas, it was not a master plan for total expulsion, though it undoubtedly created a permissive environment for local commanders to depopulate Arab villages.10

2.3 Operation Nachshon: The Turning Point

The implementation of Plan Dalet began with Operation Nachshon (April 5–16, 1948), the first brigade-sized operation ever launched by the Haganah. Its objective was to break the siege of Jerusalem by capturing and holding the Arab villages dominating the corridor. The operation was made possible by the arrival of the first significant shipment of arms from Czechoslovakia (Operation Balak), which provided the necessary rifles and machine guns to arm the mobilized reserves.13

Operation Nachshon fundamentally altered the course of the civil war. Jewish forces captured key positions, most notably the village of Al-Qastal. In the fierce battle for Qastal, Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni was killed. His death was a catastrophic blow to the Palestinian irregular forces; morale collapsed, and many fighters returned to their villages for his funeral, effectively disintegrating the siege force. Although the road to Jerusalem would be blocked again later, Operation Nachshon proved that the Haganah could seize and hold territory against Palestinian militias.15

Concurrently, in the north, the Arab Liberation Army (ALA), a volunteer force commanded by Fawzi al-Qawuqji, launched an attack on Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek (April 4–15, 1948). The ALA, equipped with artillery, initially bombarded the settlement but failed to launch a coordinated infantry assault. The Haganah counter-attacked, encircling the ALA and forcing a chaotic retreat. This victory not only secured the strategic Jezreel Valley but also resulted in the depopulation of the surrounding Arab villages, further demonstrating the military superiority of the organized Jewish forces over the disjointed Arab volunteers.16

2.4 The Collapse of Urban Arab Centers

As the British withdrawal accelerated in April and early May 1948, the mixed cities of Palestine witnessed a rapid collapse of Arab resistance. In Haifa, the British commander General Hugh Stockwell announced abruptly that his forces would withdraw to the port area, leaving the Jewish and Arab populations to fight it out. The Haganah launched Operation Bi'ur Hametz ("Passover Cleaning") on April 21-22. The Arab leadership in Haifa, demoralized and outgunned, refused surrender terms and opted for evacuation. Within days, the vast majority of Haifa's 70,000 Arab residents fled to Lebanon by sea, leaving a Jewish-controlled city.18

Similar dynamics played out in Tiberias, Safed, and Jaffa. In Jaffa, the Irgun (a revisionist paramilitary group) launched a mortar bombardment of the city, precipitating a mass flight of the population. By the time the British Mandate officially ended, the demographic landscape of the coastal plain and the valleys had already been radically transformed, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced before a single regular Arab soldier had crossed the border.19

3. The Interstate War: Invasion and Military Balance (May 1948 – 1949)

On the afternoon of May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. The following day, May 15, the British Mandate officially expired, and the armies of Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the newly declared state. This marked the transition from civil war to a conventional interstate conflict.1

3.1 Debunking the "Few Against Many" Myth

The traditional Zionist narrative portrays the 1948 war as a miraculous victory of the "few against the many"—a tiny, ill-equipped Jewish community fending off the combined might of seven Arab armies. However, meticulous research by historians has revealed a more complex military reality. While the Arab states had a massive combined population of over 40 million compared to the Yishuv's 650,000, their ability to project power was severely limited by logistical constraints, internal dissent, and colonial restrictions on their militaries.

At the onset of the invasion in May 1948, the Arab expeditionary forces numbered approximately 25,000 to 30,000 troops. The Egyptian force consisted of about 10,000 men; the Arab Legion of Transjordan, widely considered the most effective fighting force, fielded about 4,500 soldiers; Syria sent roughly 3,000; Iraq committed 3,000; and Lebanon a mere 1,000. The Israeli forces (Haganah, later IDF), though initially poorly equipped with heavy weapons, numbered around 30,000 mobilized troops. Crucially, Israel's mobilization capacity was far superior. By the end of the war in early 1949, the IDF had swelled to nearly 117,000 troops, while the combined Arab forces peaked at around 60,000–70,000. Thus, for most of the war, the IDF actually enjoyed a numerical advantage in manpower, particularly in combat troops.1



The disparity in command and control was even more decisive. On May 26, 1948, Ben-Gurion established the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), dissolving the pre-state militias (Haganah, Irgun, Lehi) into a single, unified command structure. This allowed Israel to move units rapidly between fronts as needed. In contrast, the Arab coalition was plagued by deep suspicion and a complete lack of coordination. There was no unified Arab command; the Egyptian army communicated little with the Jordanians, and the Syrians operated independently in the north.

3.2 The Impact of the Czech Arms Deal

While the IDF had manpower, it initially lacked heavy weaponry—artillery, tanks, and combat aircraft. The United States and Britain enforced a strict arms embargo on the region, which disproportionately affected the Arabs, who were dependent on British supplies. Israel, however, managed to circumvent the embargo through a massive, clandestine arms procurement operation.

The decisive factor was the support of the Eastern Bloc. Czechoslovakia, with the approval of the Soviet Union (which hoped to weaken British influence in the Middle East), supplied Israel with critical armaments. Operation Balak, an airlift of weapons, brought thousands of Mauser rifles, heavy machine guns, and crucially, 25 Avia S-199 fighter aircraft (a Czech version of the German Messerschmitt). These planes arrived just in time to halt the Egyptian column advancing on Tel Aviv at the Ad Halom bridge in late May. Later shipments included Spitfires and heavy artillery. Ben-Gurion famously stated that without the Czech arms, the State of Israel would not have survived.21

3.3 Arab Disunity and Divergent War Aims

The Arab League's intervention was undermined by conflicting political objectives that often superseded military logic. King Abdullah I of Jordan (Transjordan) had no intention of destroying the Jewish state; his primary ambition was to annex the Arab portion of Palestine (the West Bank) to realize his vision of a "Greater Syria" or an expanded Hashemite kingdom.

Historical evidence confirms that Abdullah held secret meetings with Golda Meir (representing the Jewish Agency) prior to the war. While they did not sign a formal treaty, there was a tacit understanding that the Arab Legion would occupy the West Bank but would not encroach upon the territory allocated to the Jewish state by the UN. This agreement began to unravel due to the pressure of events, particularly the fighting in Jerusalem, but it fundamentally shaped the Jordanian deployment.

Egypt and Syria, deeply suspicious of Abdullah’s expansionist ambitions, entered the war as much to check Jordanian power as to fight Zionism. King Farouk of Egypt sent his army into Palestine against the advice of his generals, largely to prevent Abdullah from claiming leadership of the Arab world. Consequently, the Arab armies often fought disjointed campaigns, failing to support one another even when their allies were in critical danger.1

4. Key Phases of Combat and Strategic Evolution

4.1 The First Phase (May 15 – June 11, 1948): Stopping the Invasion

The initial weeks of the invasion were the most critical for Israel. The Egyptian army advanced up the coastal road, reaching Ashdod, less than 20 miles from Tel Aviv. The Iraqi army threatened the narrow "waist" of Israel near Netanya, nearly cutting the country in half. The Syrians attacked the kibbutzim in the Jordan Valley, notably Degania, where they were repelled by settlers armed with Molotov cocktails and a pair of old French field guns.25

A focal point of this phase was the battle for Latrun. The Arab Legion, commanding the fortress at Latrun, successfully blocked the main highway to Jerusalem. The IDF launched repeated, bloody frontal assaults (Operation Bin Nun A and B) to dislodge them, utilising new immigrants who had barely received training. These attacks failed with heavy casualties. However, facing the surrender of starving West Jerusalem, Israeli engineers and laborers clandestinely constructed the "Burma Road"—a rough bypass track carved through the hills south of Latrun. Completed in June, this lifeline allowed supplies to flow into the city, effectively breaking the siege and saving Jewish Jerusalem.26

4.2 The First Truce and the Altalena Incident

A UN-brokered truce came into effect on June 11, lasting four weeks. This pause was a decisive turning point. While the Arab armies struggled to resupply due to the embargo, Israel utilized the time to absorb thousands of new immigrants, train forces, and distribute the heavy weaponry arriving from Czechoslovakia.1

During this truce, a violent internal conflict erupted within Israel. The Irgun attempted to land a ship, the Altalena, loaded with weapons and volunteers. Ben-Gurion, determined to enforce state authority and prevent the existence of private militias, ordered the IDF to shell the ship off the coast of Tel Aviv. The vessel burned, and 16 Irgun members and 3 IDF soldiers were killed. This fratricidal incident, while traumatic, consolidated the IDF's monopoly on force.1

4.3 The Ten Days Battles (July 8 – 18, 1948)

When the truce expired, the IDF launched a series of massive offensives, seizing the initiative for the remainder of the war.

  • Operation Danny: The IDF captured the strategic towns of Lydda and Ramle, located near Tel Aviv’s airport. This operation involved the expulsion of the entire population of both towns—some 50,000 to 70,000 people—on the orders of Yitzhak Rabin and Yigal Allon, with Ben-Gurion’s tacit approval. This event, known as the "Lydda Death March," remains one of the most contentious and well-documented instances of direct expulsion.1

  • Operation Dekel: In the north, the IDF captured Nazareth and the Lower Galilee. The outcome here differed significantly from Lydda. The brigade commander, Ben Dunkelman, refused a verbal order to expel the inhabitants of Nazareth, arguing that it would harm Israel's standing to depopulate a Christian holy city. As a result, Nazareth remained an Arab city within Israel.28

4.4 The Final Campaigns (October 1948 – March 1949)

Following a second truce, Israel launched operations to secure its borders and destroy the remaining Arab combat power.

  • Operation Yoav (October 1948): This offensive broke the Egyptian siege of the Negev settlements. The IDF captured Beersheba and surrounded a large Egyptian force in the "Faluja Pocket" (among the besieged officers was a young Gamal Abdel Nasser).30

  • Operation Hiram (October 1948): Responding to ALA provocations, the IDF swept through the Upper Galilee in a 60-hour blitz, driving Qawuqji's forces back into Lebanon. This operation was accompanied by several documented massacres of Palestinian civilians, notably at Safsaf, Eilabun, and Jish, followed by the expulsion of villagers toward the Lebanese border.32

  • Operation Horev (December 1948): The final major offensive aimed to drive the Egyptians out of the Negev entirely. Israeli forces crossed the international border into the Sinai Peninsula, encircling the Egyptian army. The advance was halted only by a direct ultimatum from Great Britain, which threatened to intervene militarily under its treaty obligations with Egypt. Israel withdrew from Sinai but consolidated its hold on the Negev.34

  • Operation Uvda (March 1949): In the war's final act, two IDF brigades raced south to the Red Sea, capturing the police station at Umm Rashrash (future Eilat) without firing a shot, thereby securing Israel's access to the Red Sea.19

5. The Demographic Transformation: Displacement and Resettlement

5.1 The Palestinian Refugee Crisis (Al-Nakba)

The most enduring legacy of the war is the displacement of approximately 700,000 to 800,000 Palestinians, who became refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, and the West Bank. The causes of this exodus are complex and have shifted in historiographical understanding.

  • The "Four Waves" Analysis: Historian Benny Morris identifies four stages of the exodus. The first wave (Dec 1947–March 1948) was driven by the collapse of the Palestinian middle class and flight from fighting. The subsequent waves, however, involved increasing coercion. By the "Third Wave" (Operations Danny and Dekel) and "Fourth Wave" (Operations Yoav and Hiram), direct expulsion orders and "whispering campaigns" (psychological warfare) became primary drivers of flight.10

  • The Question of "Transfer": The debate over whether the Yishuv had a pre-meditated plan for expulsion centers on "Plan Dalet." While not an explicit order for total cleansing, its guidelines—allowing commanders to destroy villages that resisted—created an operational framework that facilitated mass displacement. New Historians like Ilan Pappé argue this constituted ethnic cleansing by design, while Morris argues it was "born of war" but exploited by Ben-Gurion to ensure a Jewish majority.10

  • The Erasure of Villages: Following the war, the Israeli government prevented the return of refugees (Resolution 194 notwithstanding). Approximately 400 to 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed or repopulated with Jewish immigrants to prevent any possibility of return, fundamentally altering the landscape.2



5.2 The Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands

The war also triggered a massive demographic shift for Jewish communities in the Arab world. In the years following 1948, approximately 850,000 Jews fled or were expelled from Arab countries, with about 600,000 settling in Israel.

  • Iraq: The 2,600-year-old community faced state-sponsored persecution. Following the 1941 Farhud pogrom, the 1948 war led to laws classifying Zionism as a capital crime. In 1950-51, nearly the entire community (120,000 people) was airlifted to Israel in Operations Ezra and Nehemiah, but only after being stripped of their citizenship and assets.37

  • Social Impact in Israel: These immigrants, known as Mizrahim, were housed in Ma'abarot (transit camps). Conditions were harsh, characterized by tents, mud, and unemployment. The establishment's paternalistic treatment of Mizrahi Jews created deep social grievances, which would erupt later in the Wadi Salib riots of 1959 and reshape Israeli politics in the 1970s.40

6. Political Outcomes and Armistice Agreements (1949)

The war did not end with a peace treaty but with a series of bilateral Armistice Agreements negotiated on the island of Rhodes, mediated by UN Acting Mediator Ralph Bunche. Bunche, who took over after the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte by the Lehi in Jerusalem (September 1948), successfully crafted agreements that defined the region's borders for the next 18 years.43

6.1 The "Green Line" and Territorial Changes

The armistice demarcation lines, which became known as the "Green Line," established Israel's de facto borders. Israel retained approximately 78% of Mandatory Palestine—roughly 22% more than allocated by the 1947 Partition Plan.

  • Jordan: The agreement with Jordan (April 1949) was the most complex. Jordan formalized its control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. A crucial provision involved a territorial exchange: Israel received the "Little Triangle" area (Wadi Ara), a strip of land rich in Arab villages but strategically vital for the road to the Galilee, in exchange for territory in the southern Hebron hills. This transferred some 30,000 Palestinians to Israeli rule without their movement.46

  • Egypt: Egypt retained control of the Gaza Strip, which became a repository for hundreds of thousands of refugees. The agreement also allowed the Egyptian brigade besieged in Faluja to evacuate with their arms, a face-saving measure for Cairo.46

  • Syria: The agreement (July 1949) created Demilitarized Zones (DMZs) in the north where the Syrians had encroached upon the international border. These zones became sources of constant violent friction over water rights and agricultural cultivation, directly contributing to the escalation that would lead to the 1967 Six-Day War.49



6.2 The Division of Jerusalem

Jerusalem, intended to be international, was physically divided by barbed wire and minefields. Israel controlled West Jerusalem, while Jordan held East Jerusalem, including the Old City. Although the armistice agreement (Article VIII) theoretically guaranteed Jewish access to the Western Wall and the Mount of Olives cemetery, Jordan reneged on this clause. No Jews were allowed to visit the holy sites for 19 years, and the Jewish Quarter of the Old City was destroyed, its synagogues razed.51

7. Geopolitical Aftershocks: The Collapse of the Old Order

The humiliating defeat in 1948 sent shockwaves through the Arab political establishment, delegitimizing the existing regimes and triggering a wave of revolutions.

  • Syria: The country descended into chaos, witnessing three military coups in 1949 alone (led by Husni al-Zaim, Sami al-Hinnawi, and Adib Shishakli). This instability ended Syria's brief experiment with parliamentary democracy and set it on the path toward military dictatorship.53

  • Egypt: The "Defective Arms" scandal, where soldiers blamed their defeat on corrupt supply procurement by the palace, destroyed the credibility of King Farouk. This direct grievance was a primary motivator for the Free Officers Movement, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, which overthrew the monarchy in the revolution of 1952. Nasserism, with its focus on Pan-Arabism and the liberation of Palestine, emerged directly from the trenches of 1948.54

  • Jordan: King Abdullah I formally annexed the West Bank in 1950, tripling his kingdom's population. However, his pragmatic approach to Israel and his perceived betrayal of the Palestinian cause led to his assassination. On July 20, 1951, he was shot dead by a Palestinian nationalist at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.55

7.1 The "All-Palestine Government" Failure

In September 1948, in an attempt to counter Jordan's ambition to absorb the West Bank, the Arab League sponsored the creation of an "All-Palestine Government" in Gaza, headed by the Mufti's relative, Ahmed Hilmi Pasha. While recognized by Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, it lacked any real authority, army, or revenue. It was a transparent tool of Egyptian foreign policy, designed to delegitimize Abdullah rather than establish a viable state. It quickly faded into irrelevance, leaving the Palestinians politically voiceless and physically divided between Israeli, Jordanian, and Egyptian rule.57

8. Conclusion: The Institutionalization of Conflict

The 1948 war confirmed Israel's existence and established it as a formidable regional military power. For the Palestinians, it marked the destruction of their society and the beginning of a stateless diaspora. The failure to resolve the core issues—borders, refugees, and recognition—in the aftermath of 1948 ensured that the war was not an isolated event but the opening chapter of a protracted conflict. The grievances of 1948—the refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank, the border incursions, and the struggle for legitimacy—would directly fuel the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Six-Day War of 1967, and the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

The historiography of the war remains a battlefield in itself. The narrative has evolved from the "Old Historians" of Israel, who emphasized the defensive and miraculous nature of the victory, to the "New Historians" (Morris, Shlaim, Pappé) who utilized declassified archives to expose the strategic advantages of the IDF, the mechanics of expulsion, and the secret diplomacy with Jordan.12 This scholarly evolution mirrors the ongoing struggle of the region to reconcile the dual, clashing narratives of Independence and Nakba, a struggle that remains as potent today as it was in 1948.

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Pieter Lamper https://www.opened-source.com
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