An account of the event, recorded by Japheth ben Manasseh in 1518, mentions how the onslaught was initiated by Turkish troops led by Murad Bey, the deputy of the Sultan from Jerusalem.[2][3] Jews were attacked, beaten and raped, and many were killed as their homes and businesses were looted and pillaged.[4] It has been suggested that the stable financial position of the Hebronite Jews at the time was what attracted the Turkish soldiers to engage in the mass plunder.[2] Others suggest the pogrom could have in fact taken place in the midst of a localised conflict, an uprising by the Arabs against the new Ottoman rulers.[5] Those who survived the calamity fled to Beirut and Jews only returned to Hebron 16 years later in 1533.[4]