Martial law was believed imminent tonight as the death toll in the Arab revolutionary disorders climbed to an estimated seventy, including the thirtieth Jew who was slain early this evening in a bus near Jerusalem.
A decision to place the Holy Land under military rule if the campaign of terror continues is understood to have been adopted at yesterday’s conference of military leaders under the chairmanship of Sir Admiral Pound, commander of the Mediterranean fleet.
The measure is considered necessary to force Arabs to surrender concealed stores of arms and ammunition.
It was reported that 200 soldiers have surrounded the Old City while others are searching Arabs houses for arms. Eleven Arabs were reported wounded when they resisted searchers. Search for arms has been instituted in all villages near Jerusalem, particularly at Lifta.
The authorities shut down the Arab youth quarters in Hebron, from which shots have been repeatedly fired at soldiers in the nearby barracks.
Another attempt was made today by a gang of 100 Arab rebels to storm the prison at Nur el Shemen to effect a wholesale delivery of Arab convicts. Soldiers, with the assistance of airplanes, are reported to have repelled the attack, dispersing the rebels.
The District Commissioner at Haifa warned Arab leaders that both naval and military forces would be used to disperse any demonstrations that might be arranged for tomorrow.
Ten thousand trees were destroyed at the Government experimental station near Hebron.
Another bus, the third today, was attacked near Jerusalem by Arabs. An unidentified Jewish passenger was injured by an exploding bomb.
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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.
