Evening star., 1948-04-18
Jews Beat Off Attacks
By Desert Warriors
I|n'BatIe Near Haifa
ay the AsSociofed Press

I
militiamen Of Hagana announced
that they had beaten off today
fanatical Arab desert warriors in
wild battle IS miles east of Haifa.
Hagana estimated the Arabs lost
from 100 to 100 dead and so wounded
out of a force of 400 which stormed
| in waves for three days against the
Jewish settlement of Ramat Yohan-
an. The Jewish losses were given
as seven killed.
| In another action near Halfa,
Jews seized so tons of ammunition
in a raid on q British arms train.
Three British soldiers and seven
Jews were killed, British military
authorities said. Private sources
said two Brengun carriers were
taken from fiat cars on the train.
Eighteen British soldiers guard
ing the train were captured and
held for a time by the Jews. The
British said troops from Northern
Palestine and from Haifa rushed to
the scene and were met by heavy
gunfire from the Jewish attackers.
The latter withdrew after a sharp
battle, leaving behind the captured
train guards.
Druzes Make 10 Assaults.
In one attack on Ramat Yohanan
! the Arabs, DruZe warriors from
Lebanon and Syria, charged to
within 10 yards of the Hagana line.
/ A Tel Aviv dispatch said the
| Druzes attempted at least 10 as
saults yesterday after Jewish coun-
terattacks had pushed them back
from the adjacent villages Of Hosha
and Khirbet Kasayit. Buildings
were blown up in the two villages.
While this struggle was raging IN
/ Northern Palestine Arab COM
manders reinforced and regrouped
their men in the Judean hills west
of Jerusalem. The Arabs were
preparing for another attempt to
close the highway to Tel Aviv and
starve out the 100000 Jews IN
Jerusalem.
Jewish warriors blasted open the
highway in bitter fighting last week,
and today the Jews sent their larg-
est food convoy into Jerusalem.
Food Trucks Reach Jerusalem.
An estimated 1900 Hagana troops
guarded the 300 trucks loaded with
-four, meat, vegetables and dairy
products for the hungry Jews IN
the Holy City. The convoy also
was protected by Jewish airforce
planes.
A small group of priority passen-
gers rode in the trucks, including
a number of Jewish Agency officials
and participants in the recent Zion
ist General Council meeting at Tel
Aviv. The passengers said not a
shot was fired.
An Arab leader conceded that the
Jewish victory had caused some
decentralization in Arab ranks. The
fighting this month centered along
a 4O-mile stretch of highway west
of Jerusalem which had been vir-
tualIy in Arab hands since last
December.
Seven truckloads of Palestine
Arabs moved into the area today as
reinforcements.
Emile Effendi Ghoury, a member
of the Arab Higher Committee, has
assumed command of the Arab
forces operating in the Jerusalem
district. He is the first Arab politi-
cal leader to take an active battle
role. ...
First Job to Close Road.
Ghoury told reporter he might
yield his command to seasoned
military leader later. He said:
Our first job is to seal the
Jerusalem Tel Aviv convoy route
again. This will be done in the
next two or three days and this
time it will stay closed"
Ghoury succeeded Abdul Khad-
der Husseini, cousin of the eXiled
Mufti of Jerusalem, who was killed
April 8 while leading an Arab at
tack against the Jews at Kastel.
Constant gunflre and mortar
shelling was heard today In
Jerusalem Arab and Jewish sec
tions duelled across vacant lots
1t was believed the casualties were
small.
Both Arabs and Jews continued
to claim victories near Mishmar
Haemak, Jewish settlement south
east of Haifa on the plain Of
Esdraelon (Armageddon). Fighting