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Fighting Between Israeli Army and Arabs Reported from Jerusalem Area; City is Quiet

December 30, 1948
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Fighting between Israeli and Arab troops may have broken out on a new front, it was reported here today. The Israeli forces are believed to have penetrated a distance of some 10 miles south of Jerusalem in this latest action.

The Israeli authorities have now extended the news blackout to cover all details concerning Bethlehem and Beit Jibrin area as well as the Negev. The Arab Legion, which of late has shown no activity, has also imposed a severe news censorship.

In Jerusalem itself quiet prevailed today. One of seven Jewish soldiers wounded yesterday by Arab Legionnaires in no-man’s land in the vicinity of the Jaffa Gate died today. Col. Moshe Dayan, Israeli commander in Jerusalem, telephoned via his direct line to Lt. Col. Abdullah El Tel, commander of the Arab Legion, asking for an explanation of the shooting. However, it is understood that no drastic retaliatory action will be taken by the Israeli military authorities.

The immediate annexation of all of Jerusalem by Israel and the transfer of the seat of the government there was demanded today by Bernard Joseph, the city’s Israeli military governor, addressing the fifth convention of the Palestine Exploration Society in Tel Aviv.

Aubrey Eban, Israeli representative at the United Nations, addressing the session, said that the only possible compromise on the status of Jerusalem would be the internationalization of the Holy Places in the Old City, while the new section of the city should be annexed to Israel.

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