British military authorities in Palestine today opened an investigation into the circumstances under which “Operation Land” was carried out Sunday in the Negev by 1,000 Jewish settlers who overnight established twelve settlements on territory on which the British planned to establish military bases.
The military authorities said they are especially interested in ascertaining whether the Jewish settlers brought with them arms in excess of those usually allowed by the Palestine Government for defense of a settlement. They admit that the settlers had a legal right to occupy the land since it was legally acquired by the Jewish National Fund.
The Palestine Arab Higher Committee today announced that it will investigate the conditions under which the sale of the Negev land to the Jewish National Fund was effected. The announcement said that the twelve settlements are situated in the Hebron, Gaza and Beersheba districts in which land sales to Jews “are supposed to be totally restricted.”
Evidence of the dismay which “Operation Land” has caused among Arab leaders in Palestine was seen in a statement issued here today by Dr. Hassein Khalidi, secretary of the Arab Higher Committee. He termed establishment of the new settlements “a Zionist stunt,” and expressed the hope that it “would not be accepted by President Truman and the U.S. Congress as evidence of Palestine’s absorptive capacity.”
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