Palestine Terrorists Penetrate into British Military Camp; Blast Kills Two Britons

A British officer and one soldier were killed and four officers seriously injured today when a truck containing explosives blew up at the Sarafand army camp near Tel Aviv.

The truck was driven into the camp at noon by terrorists disguised as soldiers and parked near cantonment headquarters. It exploded about 15 minutes later, virtually destroying the headquarters. Many civilian and army personnel were taken to hospitals for first aid, in addition to the officers who were badly wounded.

The penetration of the Sarafand camp, which is the largest and most carefully guarded in the country, followed on the heels of a conference — the second this week — between High Commissioner Sir Alan Cunningham and Isaac Ben Zvi, president of the Jewish National Council. Sir Alan met with Ben Zvi this morning for continued discussions on the current wave of terrorism. He is believed to be pressing for a “proclamation of war” by Jewish leaders against the extremists.

Persistent reports that the authorities are preparing drastic reprisals if the violence does not cease led the Haganah today to issue a warning both to the extremists and the military. In a broadcast over the “Voice of Israel,” the Haganah said that the extremists were “stabbing the Yishuv in the back” and endangering Zionist enterprises by their “irresponsible murderous acts.” At the same time, the broadcast warned the military authorities not to launch their own terrorist campaign, since rather than calming the country it will “deepen the bitterness and pour oil on the flames of terror and frustrate efforts to isolate the dissidents.”

The newspaper Hamashkiff reports today that direct action to halt terrorism was decided upon yesterday at a secret meeting of top leaders of the Jewish Agency.