Heavy fighting in Jerusalem continued today for the third day. The Arab Legion opened artillery fire early this morning at Jewish positions. The Jews were forced to use artillery to reply to the enemy shelling.
An official report cabled t by U.N. observers to Lake Success established that it was the Arabs who opened fire. The report said: “Arab artillery is shelling Jerusalem. Arab suns have fired from a hill east of Nabi Dawud. Jews also used artillery, but their range is short and shells fell on the village of Silvan Deir. The northern sector of Jerusalem is relatively quiet except for the exchange of automatic rifle fire.”
Two unidentified airplanes, believed to be Egyptian, flew at a high altitude over Rehovoth today. The city was alerted for about 20 minutes. A serious truce breach by Iraqi forces was reported this morning from Tirat Zvi, south of Beisan, (An air raid alarm was sounded in Cairo early this afternoon. The alert lasted 15 minutes but the cause was unknown, Reuters reported.)
The U.N. mediator’s chief of staff, Gen. A.A. Lundstrom, left today for Tel Aviv where he plans to meet with U.N. observers to discuss the convoy situation and the Latrun explosion. He also plans to visit the front lines between Tel Aviv and Gaza and will arrive in Jerusalem on Thursday.
SHERTOK TAKES UP JERUSALEM ISSUE WITH U.N. OBSERVER
Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok today received Capt. P. Mohm of the U.N. mediator’s staff and discussed with him the situation in Jerusalem. He pointed out that after the compliments which the U.N mediator paid to the Arabs for promising not to return fire in Jerusalem, the Arab Legion is now shelling Jewish positions there. He also drew the U.N. official’s attention to the fact that an Israeli liaison officer was mortally wounded by an Arab sniper yesterday in Jerusalem while on duty with U.S. Consul-General John J. MacDonald, a member of the U.N. Truce Commission.
“This time the U.N. authorities will not be able to say that they do not know who fired the shot,” Shertok said. “This tragic incident is another proof, if one is required, what value still can be placed on Arab assurances that they will not open fire in Jerusalem and that they will not even fire back.”
The Israeli Foreign Minister made it clear to the U.N. representative that the Jews will not be able to withhold fire if attacked by the Arabs on a large scale. He added that before any new arrangements could be made, the Arabs must withdraw from the part of “no-man’s-land” In Jerusalem occupied by them since the truce began.
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