Approximately 500 food tracks arrived in Jerusalem today from Tel Aviv following an Arab attack near Bab el Wad which disabled ?ight of the convoy’s vehicles.
A Haganah detachment dispatched to the scene of the raid reported that it engaged a 4OO-man Arab band, half of whom were Iraqi and Lebanese guerrillas, killing ?00 and wounding 60 of the enemy. The Jews announced that only one Jew was billed and 24 slightly wounded in the tattle, but an earlier report claimed 13 Jews were killed and 30 wounded.
The convoy had passed Bab el Wad, the only remaining Arab village along the ?tal Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway still in Arab hands, when Arabs entrenched in the ?rrounding hills overlooking the road, opened fire on the rear vehicles in the convoy. For a while, some 50 trucks were immobilized by a road-block formed by several vehicles disabled by heavy grenade fire. An unconfirmed report said that David Ben Gurion, chairman of the Jewish Agency executive, was among the convoy’s messengers.
A new Jewish settlement was established last night on a hill a short distance ?om the Arab village of Bureir in the Negev, which has been the chief Arab threat to wish communications in the southern desert for the past four months.
A convoy comprising a few dozen armored cars laden with men and construction ?terials arrived at the site atop the hill during the night end immediately erected ?wall tower. When the Bureir villagers awoke this morning they were amazed to ?scover the fortified Jewish colony. Although there has been little Arab interference with the settlement’s construction activities today, sporadic firing from Bureir was reported.
HAGANAH USES NEW WEAPON; ATTACKS SEVERAL ARAB VILLAGES
Haganah forces, using a new weapon named “David, King of Israel,” last night ?attened” two Arab villages near Castel, killing a large number of Iraqi troops, ? causing no civilian casualties, a Haganah report said. The raid was a counter-?tact against Arab guerrillas under the command of Sail Ghoury who are reported ?ing to retake Castel and renew the Arab siege of Jerusalem.
Jewish troops also attacked the Arab village Sbaafat, from which Arab raid? launched a severe assault on Neve Jacob on Sunday. At the same time Haganah ?adquarters disclosed that an Arab force carried out a night-long raid on Kibbutz ?nith, but was repulsed with seven of the attackers losing their lives.
The Palestine Government has officially informed the Egyptian Government that beginning May 1, British troops will be withdrawn from the Palestine-Egyptian frontier ?ving the boundary area in the hands of Egyptian troops. Jewish circles here voiced ? fear that the action will result in Egyptian “volunteers” crossing into Palestine fight with the Arabs.
The government announced today that a 125-mile stretch of railroad between Jaffa and Gaza is “closed,” and all persons are prohibited from entering this area, ? official announcement disclosed that two British troops were killed and a third ?riously wounded when a large party of armed Jews fired on a military truck announcing the nightly curfew in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa border sector.
The Palestine government announced today that Sarona, a former German suburb ? Tel Aviv, will be incorporated into the city’s boundaries by the Tel Aviv municipality.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
