Day 162 of 599 of מלחמת העצמאות MILḤEMET HAʾAẒMAʾUT (War of Independence)

The main phase of Beginning of מבצע ברק MIVẒA BARAK. began as גבעתי GIVATI and נגב NEGEV brigade forces prepared for an Egyptian invasion. The later campaign reconstruction describes policy aimed at causing panic among Arab civilians. Original orders and locality-level departure records remain necessary to distinguish intended pressure from the fate of every household.¹

The dated Hebrew diary states:

ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ:

הפעולה בצפת נדחתה שוב. פצצות העשון אחרו לבוא.²

ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: (TJD)

The operation in Safed was postponed again; the smoke shells were late in arriving.³

The account plans a renewed assault for the coming night. Its expectation does not prove that the town was already securely held. The eventual outcome is event://5708־02־01־צפת־liberated ẒEFAT.

The diary also records an unsuccessful action around the western valley and damaged mortars. Its reported casualty figures are information received by the leadership, not an audited list with each person’s death date. Repeated delays and equipment failures made the final week’s military planning less certain than a simple sequence of victories suggests.⁴

JTA’s 9 May headline announced control of the town prematurely relative to the continuing assault sequence. The body also announced an intended local truce. Neither headline supplies proof of a completed territorial or peace settlement.⁵

This is Day 162 of the 599-day civil-date series: 1948-05-09. The register assigns its daytime public route ל׳ בניסן ה׳תש״ח 30th 𝑜𝑓 Nisan, AM 5708, a TJD fixed Hebrew calendar conversion rather than a claim that every included occurrence shared the same Hebrew day. Events after local sunset belong to א׳ באייר ה׳תש״ח 1st 𝑜𝑓 Iyar, AM 5708. Dated diaries, document records and issue dates cited beside each section supply the reconstruction; a publication or recorded report is not automatically the occurrence date. Linked studies preserve their own timing and source conflicts.⁶

• How did delayed shells change the timetable of a military plan?
• Why does a campaign’s opening date not supply each locality’s departure date?