The King David Hotel in Palestine served as the headquarters British Military. The Irgun, a Jewish paramilitary group, successfully smuggled bombs into the hotel. The plan initially involved a larger joint offensive in coordination with the Haganah, another Jewish paramilitary organization. However, the Haganah withdrew its participation, due to pressure from Chaim Weizmann.

Irgun operatives were able to sneak the bombs into the hotel, concealing them in milk cans. They placed these explosives in a basement room known as the La Regence Cafe, located directly beneath the structural beams supporting the building’s southern end.

Controversy persists regarding whether the Irgun provided adequate warning for evacuation of the hotel prior to the bombing. The Irgun maintained they had given sufficient notice, but this claim was contented by British authorities. Chief Secretary Shaw, the British commander, hesitated to evacuate the headquarters due to the bomb threat, trusting that an informant within the Irgun would provide him warning. It has been verified that the Irgun made three distinct warning calls regarding the imminent explosion, yet the building was not evacuated.

Consequently, at the time of the explosion at 12:37 PM, the hotel was fully occupied. The blast and subsequent partial collapse of the building claimed the lives of 91 individuals: 41 Arabs, 28 British citizens, 17 Jews, 2 Armenians, 1 Russian, 1 Greek, and 1 Egyptian. An additional 49 people sustained injuries.

The attack drew widespread condemnation, not just from British authorities, but also from mainstream Zionist groups. In the aftermath, the British government considered severe retaliatory measures against the Jewish population of Palestine. However, the British government moderated its response to the incident by imposing limited curfews, influenced by ongoing negotiations regarding a joint American-British strategy for Palestine.