15 April - The
Anabta shooting, where remnants of a Qassamite band stopped a convoy on the road from
Nablus to
Tulkarm near Jaffa, robbed its passengers and, stating that they were acting to revenge the death of
Izz al-Din al-Qassam, shot 3 Jewish passengers, two fatally, after ascertaining their identity.[2]
16 April - two Arab workers sleeping in a hut in a banana plantation beside the highway between
Petah Tikva and
Yarkona were assassinated in retaliation by members of the
Haganah-Bet.[3]
19 April – Twenty Jews are killed in riots following the funeral of two Jews murdered on 15 April in Jaffa[4] and calls for a general strike begin in Nablus, marking the beginning of the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine against the British colonial rule and mass
Jewish immigration.[5]
21 April - The leaders of the five main parties accept the decision at Nablus and call for a general strike of all Arabs engaged in labour, transport and shopkeeping.[6]
23 April – With the commencement of the
Arab revolt, the British authorities evacuate the Jewish community of
Hebron as a precautionary measure to secure its members' safety, thus ending the Jewish presence of Hebron.
18 May - Announcement of the Peel Commission, formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission, a British
Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by
Lord Peel, appointed to investigate the causes of unrest in British Mandatory Palestine.[7]
02 June - An attempt by rebels to derail a train bringing the 2nd Battalion
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment from Egypt led to the railways being put under guard, placing a great strain on the security forces at Nablus.[7]
04 June - In response to the situation two days prior in Nablus, the government rounds up a large number of Palestinian leaders and sends them to a detention camp at
Auja al-Hafir in the
Negev desert.[7]
21 June - The
Battle of Nur Shams marks an escalation with the largest engagement of British troops against Arab militants so far in the revolt.[8]
22 August - Anglo-Jewish Arabist scholar
Levi Billig of
Hebrew University is murdered at his home outside Jerusalem by an Arab assassin.[9][10]
07 September - Statement of Policy issued by the Colonial Office in London declares the situation a "direct challenge to the authority of the British Government in Palestine" and announces the appointment of Lieutenant-General
John Dill as supreme military commander.[6]
11 October - The general strike is called off, marking the beginning of a break in hostilities which ensues for about a year while the Peel Commission deliberates.[7]
11 November - Peel Commission officially arrives in British Mandatory Palestine.[7]