UN Palestine Commission – Daily News Summary

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UNITED NATIONS PALESTINE COMMISSION

DAILY NEWS SUMMARY

18 March 1948

Jerusalem, March 17 – After a three-day lull, violence flared anew, Nineteen Arabs and 1 Jew were killed and at least 48 persons were injured when an explosive-laden Arab truck blew up after being fired on while trying to force its way through a Jewish road-block on the Acre-Haifa road.

Abdul Kadir el-Husseini, Arab military commander, threatened “retaliatory action” against the Hadassah Hospital and the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, charging that the Jews have incorporated the two institutions in their defense scheme. He also stated that be was not willing to consider a truce under any circumstances. “If they approach our political leader, I can have nothing to say about it, however,” he added.

The Jewish Agency’s legal panel appointed to inquire into the Ben Yehuda Street explosion on 22 February submitted its report to the Palestine Government and police. Evidence presented to it, the panel said, showed that British police and military trucks took part in the bombing, that persons seen in the vehicles were British, that no Arabs were seen, and that police negligence played a large part in allowing the attack to take place. (N.Y. TIMES, N.Y. HERALD TRIBUNE)

Jerusalem, March 16 – Arab sources indicated that the indecision in the United Nations and the increasingly evident British obsession with getting out safely at all cost have resulted in a plan for the Arabs to start heavy attacks against the Jews probably some days before Britain abandons the Mandate.

Evidence of gathering Arab strength was a report from Amman that units of the Arab volunteer army mere swarming toward Palestine through Trans-Jordan. In the Nablus-Tulkarin-Jenin triangle the armed strength was reported to have reached close to 8,000 men, with more arriving daily. (N.Y. HERALD TRIBUNE)