ARABS CLAIM ADVANCES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26775, 19 May 1948, Page 5

ARABS CLAIM ADVANCES

LITTLE OPPOSITION

Jerusalem Under Heavy Shellfire

JEWS ACTIVE IN NORTH

New Zealand Press Association—Copyright. Rec. 11 p.m. LONDON, May 18 Arab artillery heavily shelled North Jerusalem yesterday afternoon and, according to the Jerusalem correspondent of The Times, the shelling was continuing at dusk. On the other fronts, Arabs claim various advances. Generally, the Arabs appear to be advancing unopposed into what are Arab areas, says the military correspondent of the Daily Telegraph.

Only in two places outside Jerusalem do the Jews appear to be fighting seriously, the correspondent continues. In the north, they have been at pains to cut both inland and coastal roads leading from Lebanon towards Acre, and the inference is that they will do their utmost to prevent the Lebanese from reaching and relieving the port of Acre. In the central plain, the Jews appear to be resisting fiercely in the Lydda-Remleh-Latrun area. This is the obvious area for the Arab Legion and Egyptians to join forces and the Jews may choose it for'their first serious battle in an effort to prevent this junction.

Egyptian Troops Near Jaffa

The Cairo correspondent of The Times says that Egyptian troops were yesterday reported to have advanced to Majdal, 13 miles beyond Gaza, bringing them within about 30 miles of Jaffa and Tel-Aviv, but military observers in Cairo say their real objective at present is to concentrate on a line running from Majdal to Hebron. They will then link up with Transjordan forces so as to cut off southern Palestine before pressing on with the next stage of their offensive along the coast. Messages from Beirut say that Saudi-Arabian troops are now arriving by air to fight with the Egyptians.

Communiques covering yesterday’s military activity in Palestine have been issued by the Egyptians, Syrians and Jews. , An Egyptian communique issued in Cairo said that throughout the day their patrols had carried out reconnaissance on a fairly broad front. •Planes had bombed the Jewish colony of Chemid, where arms dumps and armoured cars were hit and set on fire, and also Tel-Aviv, where oil installations were set on fire and six planes were destroyed on the ground. A Syrian communique said that Syrian planes had attacked Tiberias and shot down an enemy plane. A Jewish communique from Tel-Aviv reported heavy fighting near the Jaffa and Damascus gates of Jerusalem. It added that Jews had evacuated the settlement of seve Jaaco, north _ of Jerusalem, after a heavy Arab Legion attack. The Israel Government is protesting to the International Red Cross over

the bombing of Hadassah Hospital, in Tel-Aviv, which killed A nurse, a doctor and a patient. Other patients were wounded. Later messages said that the Associated Press correspondent in TelAviv reports that light bombers, presumed to be Egyptian, raided TelAviv at dawn for the fourth successive day. The attack lasted three-quarters of an hour. More bombs were dropped than in the previous raids. Reuter’s Tel-Aviv correspondent reports that two Jewish A.T.S.- girls captured the pilot of an Egyptian plane which was shot down south of TelAviv after it had dropped four bombs on the outskirts of the city. In Jerusalem members of the United Nations Truce Commission and Red Cross are working desperately to arrange a cease fire order for the Old City. The Jews have agreed to a truce, but the Arabs are reported to be awaiting approval from King Abdullah.

Surrender of Old City

While the Arab Higher Committee claims that the Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem have surrendered to the Arab -forces and confused fighting continues throughout Palestine, desperate efforts are being made to arrange a cessation of the war. A delegation from the Security Council Truce Commission which visited Amman, the capital of the Transjordan, saw King Abdullah and the Secretary-general of the Arab League, Abdel Rahman Azzam Pasha, but failed to obtain an agreement to fresh truce proposals. .Mr Jean Nieuwen Huys, Belgian Consul-general in Palestine, and chairman of the United Nations Truce Commission, who has arrived at Amman, said that although the Jews in the Old City had surrendered to the Arabs the Jews controlled most other sections of Jerusalem. Conditions of Surrender In Cairo the Arab Higher Committee stated that the Jewish Agency approved the surrender of the Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem to “Holy Jihad” (Palestinian Arab volunteers). The Arab conditions were:— 1. The Jews were to surrender all weapons. 2. All Jewish men were to become war prisoners. 3. Women N and children were to be handed to the International Red Cross. The Egyptian authorities have confiscated the cargoes of three ships at Alexandria, including the British ship Richard Borchard, allegedly en route to Palestine. Officials said the cargoes confiscated included machinery, acid, iron bars, cotton, woollen goods and ammunition. The Egyptian Government told the major Powers that arms shipments for the Zionists would be confiscated. A spokesman said Palestine territorial waters would be “dangerous” to foreign ships. The Polish Minister in Cairo has lodged a protest with the Egyptian Foreign Minister against the bombing by Egyptian planes of a Polish ship at Tel-Aviv, and has demanded indemnity. It is announced "in Cairo that Saudi Arabia would consider as “ delivered ” the four American Dakota planes which Egypt seized yesterday. Egypt would pay Transworld Air Lines for them. The air lines had previously agreed to sell them to Saudi Arabia. An Egyptian correspondent with the Transjordan forces, claiming to quote an official source, says that the Transjordan forces attacking Palestine will wait for the Egyptian Army to link up from the south before jointly attacking Jaffa and then Tel-Aviv. Arab Link-up in North Syrian and Iraqi columns have linked up in Northern Palestine states an 'Arab communique. The link-up occurred near the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee. An agency report states aircraft raided the Tel-Aviv area twice this morning. Two aircraft dropped six bombs apparently intended for the port in the first attack at dawn. The seconjl attack was made a few hours later. The Jewish capital was shrouded last

night in a black-out comparable with that of war-time London. In Tel-Aviv the Stern Gang announced it would cease its underground activities, and would go into battle as a unified command with the Israel Army. The “Voice of Israel” radio warned Arab States invading Palestine that their cities would be attacked from the air. Jews Open Dam The Jews opened a hydro-electric dam and flooded a plain in the Jordan Valley along the Palestine-Trans-jordan frontier and “drowned up to 500 Arab troops,” according to the Associated Press Haifa correspondent, quoting Jewish sources. Haganah radio reported that a Jewish striking force had penetrated seven miles into Lebanon, and had blown up a bridge over the Litany River, following reports of a heavy concentration of Lebanese-troops in that area. Lieutenant-general Gordon Macmillan, commander of the British forces in Palestine, addressing representatives of all communities in Haifa Town Hall, said he could not tolerate any outside attacks on Haifa. He proclaimed that the area that British troops at present occupied would be under British jurisdiction for the purpose of withdrawal from Palestine, which was expected to end by August 1. Everybody in the. area must obey the British Army.