Operation Pdut: Cyprus to Israel, 1949

Cyprus detention camps → Israel

Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 and all limits on Jewish immigration were lifted, but the Cyprus camps were not emptied until the following winter. Between 24 January and 10 February 1949 Operation Pdut evacuated the remaining detainees aboard the Galila and the Atzma'ut, the last leaving Cyprus on 10 February. On 14 March 1949 Sha'ar HaAliyah opened at Haifa as the central reception and screening camp.