Evening star., 1948-05-01
Palestine
Ontinued From First Page

Continued From First Page.)
Bakry, representing the Egyptial
general staff.
"SOmething in the Air.
Official sources in Cairo would no
comment on the invasion reports
but army circles said something is il
the air" An Egyptian Army Office
said the Cairo garrison is unde
standby orders and that all officers
leaves nave been Cancelled
The army informant said Mo
hamed Haidar Pasha. Egypt's de
fense minister, left by plane las
night for AN unknown destina
tion-possibly the Palestine frontie
of Amman, TranS-Jordan. An Aral
states council of war is under wa,
in Amman.
The officer estimated that Egyp,
tlan forces concentrated at Rafs
snd El Arish in the Sinai peninsula
number about 10000. Rata is or
the Mediterranean. at Egypts north.
east border with Palestine, and E
Arish is less than 10 miles to the
west.
Disagreements Settled"
The time when the Arabs will be
masters in Palestine is near" Alb.
dullah's statement said. In the
past there always have been dis.
agreements and mistrust between
the various Arab countries, bur
these have been settled by the Pal.
eStine ISSUE
Abdullah's statement did not spec.
ify D-day for Arab invasion no.
did 1t indentify any one Arab figure
as commander in chief for the oper.
ationS. 1t repeated a previous offe,
of peace to the Jews if they woulc
accept an Arab majority state anc
abandon the idea of a Jewish ma
ton. An Arab news agency dis.
patch said Abdullah had appointed
Gen. Sayeb Pasha, Iraq army chic
of staff, as overall invasion COM
mander.
An Iraqi diplomatic source ir
Cairo refused to comment on the
reports that the invasion had be.
gun, but said the Arab League con.
ference in Trans-Jordan yesterday
decided that six Arab states will
invade the Holy Land Immediately
and simultaneously" The Trans.
Jordan dispatches did not mention
Saudi Arabia, the sixth state. as
being represented in the confer
enCe.
Summary of Situation.
High Arab officials visiting Am
man gave this summary of the Pal
eStine situation:
The Egyptian army will be unde,
its own command. 1t will be re
Sponsible for the safety of Arab in
tereSts in Southern Palestine, up Il
and including Jaffa. Some 20 Egyp
tan warplanes may operate in Pal
estine, but only for reconnaissance
No aerial bombing is envisaged ex
cept if it is held necessary as ;
repriSal.
Iraq is reported to be sending tw,
brigadeS. equipped with armoret
cars, by way of Trans Jordan TO
service in Palestine.
Syria and Lebanon are counted OF
for 1000 to 5000 regulars. Thes
will be mainly infantrymen. oni,
lightly armed. and their commant
lacks battle experience.
TranS-Jordans Arab Legion ha
5000 men on police duty under tn,
British In Palestine. Three thou
sand more may be available. but thi
would tax the legion's resources Sc
verely.
Hagana Takes Control.
1rgun Zvai Leumi was understood
to be transferring the wrecked Dor
der zone Manshieh area of Jaffa
seized from the Arabs, to squads o
Hagana fighters.
1t was assumed Hagana wollc
hand the area over to the British
in accordance with a British true,
ultlmatum. The British had give1
lreun, the Jewish undergrount
force, until noon today to Withdraw
from positions they had seized il
the port of Jaffa and to cease fir
IN the area from Jaffa southWar,
to Belt Dejan.
British troops were to be deploye,
all along the Tel Aviv-Jaffa borde
area.
An 1rgun spokesman had sal
earlier that Irgun was occupying tn
entire southern part of Jaffa'
Manshieh quarter, and added:
"1rgun, who fought the Brit
lsh out of Palestine, does not &C
cept British ultimatums.
Planes Over Jerusalem.
Royal Air Force Spithres fey
over the Jewish-held Katamo,
area of Jerusalem, but a Jewisl
agency spokesman said the RAJ
notified the agency this was
demonstration and no air strike wa
planned against Jewish positions.
A Hagana source said the Jew
were entrenched firmly in 81
Simon's Greek Orthodox Monastery
a former Arab stronghold on tn
eastern edge of the Katamon quar-
ter, and had driven a wedge int
the western side. Jewish hilltop
positions command the section.
The fight is not over" an Ara
spokesman said. I'VE shall driv
them out"
! A British communique repor.e,
continued sniping at British post
ir Jerusalem. 1t said that durin
the night Jewish forces probe
Arab defenses to the south and eas
of the British cantonment area bu
were driven back by the Arabs.
. A