Consular Truce Commission Telis U.N. Palestine Situation Grave, Deteriorating Rapidly

The text of a cablegram from the United Nations Consular Truce Commission in Jerusalem warning that the situation in Pales is rapidly growing worse and that battles surpassing the Haifa engagement in intensity are expected soon, was read today to the U.N. Political Committee. The message ?s read by Dr. Alfonso Lopez, president of the Security Council, to which it was at yesterday.

It was understood that the Council, at a secret meeting yesterday afternoon, ?d decided to withhold the text of two additional messages underscoring the extreme ?avity of the situation.

Dr. Lopez told the committee that the three consuls, representing France, ?gium and the United States had found Jewish areas under central control by the Jewish Agency, but the Arab districts are without central administration and confusion is mounting. This was due, the report declared, to the rapid British withdrawal. ?he text of the message follows:

“General situation Palestine deteriorating rapidly. Government departments ?losing daily and normal activities coming to a standstill. The Jewish Agency is acting as a general organizing body for the Jewish areas and attempting to replace suspended governmental activities. Arab areas are depending on municipal authorities within the townships and villages without any central authority. Telegraph facilities ceased in most areas as have telephone trunk lines. Telephones still work locally but with decreasing efficiency. Lydda airport is out of operation and regular air communication and airmail service in and out of country have stopped.

“Intensity of fighting is increasing steadily. Camps and other important areas vacated by British forces immediately become battlegrounds; Operations on larger and more important scale than Haifa expected shortly. Rumors tending to increase the nervous tension in the country.”

U.S; PROPOSES IMMEDIATE TEMPORARY TRUSTEESHIP FOR JERUSALEM

The United States opened and new avenue for a possible solution of the Jerusalem problem by proposing that the city be governed through a temporary trusteeship administration. The U.S. delegate assured the Council that his country stood ready to assume its share of the responsibility for carrying it out. The U.S. proposal was indignantly rejected by Husseini who saw in it a devious attempt to reintroduce partition. “We are against it and we will resist it,” Husseini said.

Moshe Snertok told the Council that the Jewish Agency accepts the principle of an International regime for Jerusalem as provided for in the partition plan. He reserved the Agency’s position on the form and details of such an arrangement.

The U.S. move was interpreted by some delegations as a confession that trusteeship for the whole of Palestine stands little chance of adoption. It was predicted that the U.S. might in the end settle for Jerusalem trusteeship and permit the broader situation to settle itself.

In the Political Committee, John flood of Australia served notice that his country would support the Palestine Jews’ right to proclaim a Jewish state on May 16. He challenged the U.S. to clarify the “unintelligible and meaningless” phrase, contained in the preamble to its working paper, that a trusteeship regime would not prejudice the rights, claims and positions of either community.