PALESTINE MINE

Grey River Argus, 19 November 1946, Page 5

PALESTINE MINE

KILLS BRITISH POLICE Ten Casualties at Tel Aviv - LONDON, Nov. 17. A loud explosion followed by bursts of machi'ne-gun fire were heard in Tel Aviv from the direction of Sarona, where the Palestine Police mobile force is stationed, says Reuter’s Jerusalem correspondent. Flames after the explosion are reported to have lit the sky for miles around.

The British United Press Jerusalem correspondent reports that three British soldiers riding in a jeep were killed by an electrically-detonated mine near Lydda. (Rec. 7.43) LONDON, Nov. 18. Three British policemen and an R.A.F. sergeant were killed and six British policemen were injured when a road mine blew up a lorry in a suburb of Tel Aviv.

News Agency correspondents state the mine was placed in the middle of the street in a sparcely populated area. Police immediately cordoned off the area. Dogs were brought to the scene in an attempt to track the assailants.

A Reuter correspondent reports: — The sirens were sounded in Tel Aviv after midnight, brining to a standstill all traffc. Rifle fire was heard in a number of streets. Military headquarters flatly denied' that the troops have moved in on a retaliatory attack against Jews, following the blowing up of the police lorry. The police said that six Jews have been slightly injured in scuffles duffing a roundup of suspects. A few single shots were fired in the air to halt the Jewish crowds.

“The Times” in a leading article, said:—“The situation in Palestine remains very disjuieting. Misguided' supporters at home and abroad, have encouraged Jewish fanatics to regard themselves as heroic upholders of national freedom against the British oppression. There are welcome signs that the conscience of the closely knit Jewish community is being increasingly stirrtd to restrain fanatics. The Jewish milita, Haganah is beginning to take its own measures against terrorists. Arabs and Jews primarily are concerned to bring pressure to bear against Britain. Neither party seeks to incur the other’s hostility. But if the Jewish' terrorist outrages, in which Arabs are often involved, continue then the tension between the two communities inevitably will increase. The British Government is making an effort to dispel an illusion existing among so' many displaced persons that Palestine is the only refuge and is also trying, through interna-tionally-concerted action, to devise for Palestine a settlement between the Arabs and Jews which will command the approval of the conscience of humanity.. It has become increasingly plain that active cooperation from the United States of the kind required’ for both objectives is at least unlikely. An attempt to rally moderate men from among Jews and Arabs must be made.”

GUN BATTLE IN TEL AVIV (Rec. 11.5) LONDON, Nov. 18. The “Daily Mail’s” correspondent at Tel Aviv, cabling in the early •hours of this morning, stated; —A gun battle is raging in the streets of Tel Aviv as the police have continued' their search for the suspects concerned in blowing up the police lorry. The police made a baton charge in Allenby’s street, which is in the centre of the city. The crowds lay flat down on the roads as the firing went on. Extra police and military guards were posted at Government and the Royal buildings during the week-end against possible Jewish terrorist attacks after Scotland Yard had received a message threatening an attack.