Jews, Arabs Massed On Syrian Frontier

Northern Advocate, 12 January 1948, Page 3

Jews, Arabs Massed On Syrian Frontier

LONDON, Sun. (11 a.m.) —Haganah has sent reinforcements to the Syrian frontier and strong forces of Arabs are massed along the Syrian side of the border, according to reports from Palestine. Despite the presence of British troops, further fighting in this area is expected. Already snipers have renewed attacks on Jewish settlements near Dan, the scene of the attack by Arabs from Syria on Friday.

British troops again went to the assistance of the settlement.

The Arabs decided to close that gate also and the city now is virtually sealed. Even Arabs have to satisfy the Arab guards that their entry to or exit from the city is a matter of urgency. BRITISH JOIN ARABS Three British ex-Indian Army officers left London by air today to fight for the Arabs in Palestine. The officers would not disclose their identities. They said the Arab office in London had received many applications, and it is likely 'that other officers and men would be leaving Britain for the Middle East. In Philadelphia General Clifton Cates, United States Marine Corps, commandant, today denied reports that Marines were being sent to Palestine to protect American consulates. Speaking at the opening of the national , Marine Corps Reserve Week, General Cates said the new contingent of Marines, who were being sent to £he Mediterranean, would merely replace those already there.

These troops have dug themselves in on a 10-mile front bracketing the Merj Ayun Pass, through which they drove back the raiders after a sevenhour battle.

Other troops last night were moving up to man key positions along the whole Syrian frontier. A British spokesman said: ‘'We will repel attacks on Palestine from any quarter as long as Britain holds the mandate.”

The “Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters,” over the Jordan, on the PalestineSyrian frontier, was blown up tonight. Haganah forces are believed to have been responsible. The bridge is in the area where Arabs attacked from Syria on January 9. It carries the only road linking Syria and Palestine across the Jordan.

Reuters correspondent, in a message from “Arab guerilla mountain headquarters,” says a Palestinian Arab guerilla army is undergoing intensive training in the mountains near Samaria and Galillee and will be ready to go into action in a month’s time.

EXPLOSION IN JERUSALEM

Haganah has' claimed responsibility for an explosion which wrecked an Arab house at Rmema on the outskirts ..of Jerusalem. Two Arab guards, seriously injured, are believed to be the only casualties.

Haganah claimed that Arab terrorists occupied the house. Three Arabs were slightly hurt and one Jew seriously wounded in sporadic long-range sniping between Arabs and Jews on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Twelve Jews and eight Arabs were killed in an Arab-Jewish encounter in the Negeb area of the southern coastal plain. British troops and police intervened. Five Arabs were killed and three others are believed to have been killed when British troops in the Gaza area returned fire from Arab snipers. Two Jews are reported to have been killed in a clash in the same area. FIRED ON BRITISH Tel Aviv sources said also that 11 Jews are missing (and troops are searching the sand dunes for them. Arabs in the Latrun area attacked Jewish cars which were taking wounded to the settlement for treatment. Two Jews were killed and eight wounded. Firing on British police, 100 uniformed Arabs surrounded and attacked the Jewish colony of Ramat Rachael,near Jerusalem. British armoured cars intervened and the Arabs were driven off. Clashes, some involving deaths, occurred also in the areas of Haifa, Gaza, the Negeb and Latrun. SIEGE OF JERUSALEM The last of Jerusalem’s seven gates has been closed by the Arabs, and iIOOO Jews in the Old City are short of food. All the seven gates of Jerusalem were closed last night, reports the British United Press. Six of the gates had been closed since the United Nations decision to partition Palestine and only the Jaffa gate remained open.