Arabs Reopen Attack on Mishmar Haemek; Abdullah Rejects General Truce in Palestine

A large Arab force today attacked Mishmar Haemek, key to the defense of Haifa, for the second time within a month, the Haganah announced. Several large enemy concentrations have been sighted in the vicinity of the Hashomer Hatzair settlement, which is about 15 miles southeast of the port city, and which was the scene of one of the worst routs suffered by Arab forces thus far in the war.

A report from Amman, capital of Transjordan, stated that King Abdullah has withdrawn his envoy from an Arab League conference in Damascus and has announced that regardless, of what other Arab states will do, he intends to invade Palestine after May 15. “I reject any general trace in Palestine because it means outright submission to Zionist demands,” he is reported to have declared. Meanwhile, the W. Consular Truce Commission met with Arab officials in Jerusalem today in an attempt to negotiate a permanent truce in the city.

Reports from Jaffa assert that all but 10,000 of the port’s 70,000 Arab inhabitants have fled. One hundred – odd Egyptian nationals today left Jerusalem for the Egyptian border in a six-bus convoy under the protection of the Red Cross. Some of the 30-odd British tanks which were landed at Haifa to reinforce British troops have arrived in Jerusalem. The whereabouts of the others as well as the placement of the newly arrived reinforcements is being guarded as a military secret.

A Haganah spokesman today condemned the killing yesterday of seven British soldiers by the Sternists as a “cowardly, murderous attack” which must be considered a provocation aimed at the Jewish security forces. The Britons were shot yesterday when they dismounted from a truck to find out why an armored vehicle blocked their path on the road between Raanana and Nathanya. Police and soldiers were today still tracking the gunmen.