Gush Etzion Convoy
Encyclopedia
From November 1947 the roads to the four kibbutz
im of Gush Etzion
("The Etzion Bloc"), south of Jerusalem were blockaded by militias from neighbouring villages. The Haganah used a strategy of armed convoys to get supplies to the outposts. The initial convoys to the bloc used open pickup trucks ("tenders"), since the British claimed that armored vehicles would irritate the Arabs. The convoys were accompanied by official mandate police "monitors" (notrim
) in uniform.
attempted to reach the settlements from the west. Thirty-five
members of the platoon were massacred when they were attacked by militiamen from Surif
.
convoy refers to a group ambushed on their return to Jerusalem on 27 March 1948 The Scotsman
newspaper's correspondent Eric Downton described the incident:
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
im of Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestinian territories. The core group includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s, and ...
("The Etzion Bloc"), south of Jerusalem were blockaded by militias from neighbouring villages. The Haganah used a strategy of armed convoys to get supplies to the outposts. The initial convoys to the bloc used open pickup trucks ("tenders"), since the British claimed that armored vehicles would irritate the Arabs. The convoys were accompanied by official mandate police "monitors" (notrim
Notrim
The Notrim were a Jewish Police Force set up by the British in the Mandatory Palestine in 1936 to help defend Jewish lives and property during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The force was divided into Supernumerary Police and highly mobile Settlement Police...
) in uniform.
11 December 1947
The convoy of ten was the first failed attempt using this method. Its four vehicles were ambushed on the main road north of King Solomon's pools on December 11, 1947. Ten of the convoy personnel were killed, four injured and only four escaped unhurt. On December 14 an additional person was killed in another attack on a convoy. The Haganah then decided that henceforth it would use armored "sandwich" vehicles in the convoys.16 January 1948
As an alternative to the Jerusalem road the PalmachPalmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
attempted to reach the settlements from the west. Thirty-five
Convoy of 35
The Convoy of 35 refers to 35 soldiers of the Haganah who were killed while attempting to resupply and or reinforce the Gush Etzion kibbutzim by foot on January 16, 1948, after a number of convoys had been attacked during the early stages of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.- Attack...
members of the platoon were massacred when they were attacked by militiamen from Surif
Surif
Surif is a Palestinian town in the Hebron Governorate located 25 km northwest of the city of Hebron. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics census, Surif had a population of 13,365 in 2007. The population is entirely Muslim....
.
27 March 1948
The Neve DanielNeve Daniel
Neve Daniel is an Israeli settlement and communal settlement located in western Gush Etzion in the southern West Bank. Located south of Jerusalem and just west of Bethlehem, it sits atop one of the highest points in the area - close to 1,000 meters above sea level, and has a view of much of the...
convoy refers to a group ambushed on their return to Jerusalem on 27 March 1948 The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
newspaper's correspondent Eric Downton described the incident: