Jews Arrested in Nathanya As Troops Comb Town; 1,200 Questioned in Day-long Hunt

Eighty-three Jews were arrested today as some (##)000 British troops completed house-to-house searches in half of Nathanya, during (##)ch 1,224 persons were questioned, it was officially announced today. The government communique listed two “top grade wanted men,” and one “second grade wanted man” (##) another dozen ungraded “wanted men,” in addition to 68 suspects as having been (##)tained. No insidents occurred during the searches.

Mayor Oved Ben Ami met with a number of British military and civil officials (##)discuss the problems of supplies in the beleaguewed city. Arrangements were made (##) the early reopening of the town’s bakeries. Meanwhile, the 15,000 inhabitants (##)ntinue to be without telephone, mail, telegram and transportation services. The population remains under house curfew.

The fourth day since the kidnapping of the two British soldiers, which led to (##)e imposition of military rule, passed without any news as to the whereabouts of the (##)m. The police and military went off on a wild goose chase this morning after the conceipt of an anonymous telephone call telling them that the sergeants were being (##)ld in Ekron. A sizeable force of troops cordoned off and searched the town, which (##) south of Rehovoth, but found no trace of the abducted Britons.

U.N. DELEGATES TOUR BELEAGUERED CITY; CONFOR WITH ARABS

The Guatemalan and Uruguayan alternate delegates visited Nathanya today and {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}onferred with Mayor Ben Ami, who told them that he felt sure that if UNSCOP could {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}et an intimation from the High Commissioner that he would favorably receive a peti{SPAN}(##){/SPAN}ion asking clemency for the three doomed Irgunists, the kidnappers would respond to {SPAN}(##){/SPAN} appeal from him to release the kidnapped men, who are being held as hostages for {SPAN}(##){/SPAN}e condemned extremists.

The delegates told Ben Ami that they had come to Nathanya at the request of their chief delegates to “examine the situation at first hand and informally” and (##) see what they could do to bring peace. Accompanied by a JTA correspondent, they (##)oured the dead streets, dropped into private homes and asked innumerable questions. while walking through the town, they were halted by three armored cars bristling with (##)achine guns. An officer demanded their papers, after which the cars roared off. (##)he delegates expressed the opinion that military control was chiefly a punitive (##)easure, and that if the government reacted favorably to the clemency requests, the country would be quiet at least until the UNSCOP report had been issued.

A false alarm tonight caused sirens to sound throughout Jerusalem and sent soldiers scurrying to the scene of a reported blast. Traffic was halted for twenty minutes. The area was cordoned off and police investigated, but nothing was found. It was officially listed as an “unidentified explosion.”

Last night an army press officer, Col. Sheffield, admitted to newsmen that the Haganah had done its best to locate the soldiers. He added that he hoped that the resistance forces would continue to cooperate in the hunt.