Enemy airplanes early today raided Tel Aviv, largest city in Palestine with a population of 200,000. Six Jews were killed and 17 were wounded, according to first reports. It was the first bombing of Tel Aviv since the Italian raid last Sept. 9 in which 121 persons were killed.
Today’s raid found the modern Mediterranean coastal city in the process of intensifying its precautionary measures against attack from the skies. The Government has voted funds for construction of concrete underground shelters and the municipality has announced plans to build 100 new shelters. Hospital and fire-fighting services are also being expanded.
Haifa suffered a four-and-a-half-hour raid. There were two casualties and small property damage.
A British military spokesman declared satisfactory progress was being made in the Allied drive in Syria. He said resistance was scattered and sporadic. Some French officers, realizing the mistake of following Vichy’s orders because of personal loyalty to Marshal Petain, no longer are ordering their troops to resist, the spokesman said.
He praised the Transjordan Frontier Force for taking the large burden of patrolling the Yarmouk River on the right flank of the advancing forces. He reported that the Royal Air Force had attacked Palmyra, scoring direct hits on airplane hangars. Railway traffic between Transjordan and Syria has been suspended.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness returned from Baghdad reported that British troops recaptured several truckloads of goods looted from Jews and restored them to the owners. The informant said that, entering Baghdad with the British, he saw looted Jewish goods piled up on Rashid Street and adjoining streets after a mob had attacked the Jewish quarter during the interregnum between the flight of Rashid Ali Beg Gailani and the Regent’s re-entry.
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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.
