UN Palestine Commission – Daily News Summary

UNITED NATIONS PALESTINE COMMISSION

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY – 14 April 1948

Jerusalem, April 13 – Arabs trapped 3 buses of a Jewish convoy on the slopes of Mr. Scopus en route to Hadassah Hospital and in a 7-hour battle killed 34 physicians, nurses, patients and a number of Hebrew University students, and wounded 20. Among the dead was Dr. Haim Yasski director of the hospital and head of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Palestine.

A Jewish convoy of 178 trucks with 550 tons of supplies and 20 passenger cars got through to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv without serious trouble.

Police reports from other parts of Palestine listed 1 Jew and 10 Arabs killed and 9 Arabs and 1 British soldier wounded.

Jerusalem, April 13 – The Zionist General Council was reported to have named a 13-man “cabinet” to govern the Jewish State proclaimed by the Council yesterday.

Damascus, April 13 – A second Arab army began moving into Palestine from Syrian training camps. About 5,000 uniformed Syrian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Egyptian, Transjordan and Palestine troops moved out of their bases in small groups, leaving less than 1,000 trainees in the camps.

The new detachments, it was reported, will be commanded by a Syrian colonel and will operate South of Fauzi al-Kawukji’s Yarmouk Army, and between it and a third force expected to move into Southern Palestine from Egypt.

The three groups will be under the command of Ismail Safwat Pasha; who was reported to have advised the Arab League against widening the scope of present Arab military operations in Palestine. He told the League that the Arabs did not have enough equipment or trained manpower at the moment to isolate Jerusalem, and said that Arab forces could not extend themselves as they wished without exhausting their arms and ammunition within six weeks. (N.Y. TIMES, N.Y. HERALD TRIBUNE)