38 Jews Arrested in Northern Palestine Following Battle Between British and Arabs

Thirty-eight Jews were arrested and their arms confiscated last night and this morning following a pitched battle between British troops and an invading party of Arabs from Syria. Meanwhile, reports received here indicated that Fawzi el Kaukaji, Arab guerrilla leader, will arrive in Palestine today at the head of 1,000 Arab fighters.

The 38 Jews were arrested near Metullah and the colony of Ayeleth Hashahar. It was revealed that at least 12. Arabs, and possibly more, were killed in yesterday’s engagements and that six prisoners, including a German and a Syrian army sergeant, were taken by the British. The German is said to have been segregated for questioning. A continuous curfew from 8 a.m. today has been proclaimed in Tiberias, the northern sector of Palestine which is close to Syria.

One Jew was killed and two were wounded this morning in a renewal of yesterday’s heavy sniping activity on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem border. In addition, one Jewish policeman was killed and several others wounded when a large gang of Arabs attacked a Jewish police station in the border area. The attackers suffered many casualties before they were beaten off.

A unit of Sternists invaded the Manshieh quarter of Jaffa, which lies next to Tel Aviv, and blew up five Arab homes. While they were making their way back to Tel Aviv through “no man’s land,” they met a detachment of British policemen with when they exchanged shots, but no one was hit. All telephone and teleprinter communications between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was halted last night when several lines were cut by unidentified persons.

JEWS REPULSE RENEWED ARAB ATTACK ON GALILEAN SETTLEMENT

Four Arabs were killed and several were wounded on a road between Gaza and Beersheba when they were fired upon by a group of men in a speeding car. A Jewish settlement policeman was wounded when attacked by Arabs on a road west of Jerusalem, while at Ein Zeitim Arabs have once again attacked the Galilean settlement which has repulsed at least half-a-dozen raids within the past few weeks. In Jerusalem Arabs blew up a Jewish-owned house, wounded a British soldier and stole a tommygun from a second trooper. They also blew up a car in a Jewish funeral cortege, but no one was injured.

Three carloads of sugar were stolen by Arab bandits from a train which they held up near Qalqilia. Eight tank trucks were hijacked by Arab gunman near Gaza this afternoon, but two have since been recovered.

British military headquarters announced that any soldier who surrenders his arms to anybody without fighting or who is not wounded in any action during which he loses his weapons will be court martialled. A Palestine Government spokesman told newsmen that the cost of the British evacuation of Palestine would come to about $2,000,000 and that the expenses would be borne by the Palestine treasury.

A Jewish Agency spokesman today told a press conference that recent reports indicate that arms supplied by the British to Arab states neighboring on Palestine are being smuggled to Arab guerrillas in Palestine in increasingly large quantities. He also reported that the Agency has concluded its investigation of the blasting of the building housing the Jerusalem office of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the Palestine Post and has handed its report over to the authorities. Meanwhile, the Arab Higher Committee has protested to High Commissioner Sir Alan G. Cunningham against the searching of Arab villages and the confiscation of Arab weapons.

The World Mizrachi Central Committee has called a worldwide Mizrachi conference to be opened in Tel Aviv February 29. The Palestine Immigration Department has issued instructions to British consulates in 30 countries to issue visas for dele gates to the parley, which is expected to last ten days.