Evening star., 1948-05-28
Jews Surrender to Arab Legion
In Jerusalem Old City Battle;
Zionists Capture Two Villages
400 Lost Defenders
Had Taken Cover in
Three Stone Houses
sy the Associoied Press

CAIRO, May 28-King Abdul
lah's forces announced the epic
battle for the Old City of Jeru-
salem ended today in the sur
render of the last-ditch Jewish
fighters.
The fall of the Old City, after two
weeks of struggle between the Arab
Legion and a small force of Jews,
may signal the beginning for the
greater battle of modern Jerusalem.
Israeli forces say they hold most
of the modern city.
In the raging battle for Latrun, a
key to the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road,
Jewish forces claimed capture OF
two Arab villages. Advices from Je-
rusalem indicated fighting there
may be a decisive battle of the Pal
estine war.
400 Held Out to Last
Fewer than 400 Jewish fighters
held out bitterly in the final phase
of the battle for the Old City, an
area less than mile square in tne
heart of Jerusalem. They holed UP
in three stone buildings after the
Arabs captured their last great
stronghold, the Hurva Synagogue in
the Jewish quarter. Arab foot troops
weer sent out to root them out. The
Jews held out in the face of shelling
and dynamite charges before the
Arab infantry was called up and
instructed to accept unconditional
surrender or wipe out the enemy"
The fight in the Old City has
continued for months, long before
the British surrendered their Pales-
tine mandate. The Arabs besieged
the Jewish population in the last
days of the mandate.
Jewish fighters outside the wall
made many desperate rescue at
tempts.
Surrender Terms Stated.
Associated Press Correspondent
Joseph C. Goodwin reported from
Jerusalem the surrender took place
at 2:30 pm.
Under the surrender terms the
Old City's women and children,
estimated to number about 300 and
the old men of the Jewish quarter
will be turned over to the Inter-
national Red Cross.
The younger men will be placed
In a concentration camp outside
Palestine, it was announced.
Jewish negotiators said their
people in the Old City numbered
between 1,500 and 1900.
Latrun Battle Rising.
The battle for Latrun, Is miles
west of Jerusalem, rose in intensity.
Thousands of Arabs and Jews were
in the struggle to control the key
road.
The Jews said they captured Belt
Jiz and Belt Sasum, just south OF the
highway and Latrun, which is Is
miles west of Jerusalem. In Tel
Aviv, Jewish military security
guarded the details of the battle.
The Arab Legion is reported to
have drawn troops even out of en-
battled Jerusalem and rushed them
through the Bah el Wad gorge in an
attempt to stem a Jewish attack
To the north, Jewish sources said
Hagana troops captured the Arab
village of Zir'in, midway between
Nazareth and the Arab city of
Jenin, pivot of the -Nablus-
Tulkarm triangle.
The village lies on the Arab-JeW-
ish border as planned by the United
Sfronot hpnp6
the Jewish flank in the north, the
informants said.
Air Forces in Fight.
The British Near East Radio
quoted a correspondent as describ-
ing the Latrun battle as one of the
biggest ever fought in Palestine.
The Arabs-and possibly the Jews
too-threw air forces into the fight,
which spread for miles over the
barren hills where Richard the Lion
Hearted turned back from his cru
sade to Jerusalem.
Jewish headquarters in Tel Aviv
announced that one Iraqi two
engine plane of the Anson type was
shot down in the Latrun area
yesterday.
On the upper Jordan front, the
Jews said they shot down two twin
engine Iraqi planes. The Jewish
radio. Voice of Galilee, said Jewish
air forces raided the Ell Kuneitra
area in Syria, an Arab troop con-
centration point east of the Sea of
Galilee.
Arab sources in Cairo said the
Egyptian Army, aided by units Of
the Trans-Jordan Arab Legion and
irregulars, attacked Jerusalem it
self from the south yesterday morn
(See PALESTINE, Page A-3.)