Day 78 of 599 of מלחמת העצמאות MILḤEMET HAʾAẒMAʾUT (War of Independence)

Explosive charges destroyed or damaged homes. Police reporting in the UN digest counted eleven Arab dead, including five children. The full account, הפלמ״ח HAʾPALMAḤ raided سَعْسَع SAʿSAʿ., separates the stated military aims, the destruction of inhabited space and the civilian deaths. The named children and a final casualty roll have not been recovered.¹

The later institutional account says the force withdrew with two wounded men and reached its base in the morning. Neither the plan to destroy twenty houses nor later estimates should replace the source-specific reports of actual damage. February's raid is also separate from the village's later occupation and depopulation.

צבי פוצ׳טר ẒVI PUCHTER, a local community leader and defender, was killed on 15 February. His official memorial recounts a long history of self-defense before immigration and his work organizing protection in חיפה HAIFA. His family life and civic role explain why the loss extended beyond a military position.²

אשר סוחצקי AŜER SOCHATZKI also died that day at a defensive post near his home. A carpenter active in communal defense, he left a wife and daughter. The two memorials identify people behind the newspaper's generalized report of fighting; they do not establish that both men were killed in exactly the same exchange.³

The diary records a discussion with דב יוסף DOV YOSEF about cisterns with a capacity of thirty thousand cubic meters, approximately two-thirds full, and a daily need estimated at one thousand cubic meters for the community of יהודים YEHUDIM. These were planning estimates. They do not establish a complete siege, universal scarcity or the contents of every private store.⁴

The entry says five hundred tons of supplies had arrived on the preceding Saturday and discusses further deliveries and reserves. The earlier arrival must keep its own date. The purpose of the discussion was to build endurance before roads became less reliable, while actual deliveries and future convoy plans remained distinct.

This is Day 78 of the 599-day civil-date series: 1948-02-15. The register maps its daytime portion to ה׳ באדר א׳ ה׳תש״ח 5th 𝑜𝑓 Adar I, AM 5708; after local sunset the Hebrew day changes to ו׳ באדר א׳ ה׳תש״ח 6th 𝑜𝑓 Adar I, AM 5708. This is a calendar conversion convention, not evidence that every reported act happened in daylight.

The raid began at midnight during 14–15 February, securely within 5 Adar I under the stated reconstruction. Both named defenders' memorials give 15 February and 5 Adar I. The supply discussion belongs to the 15 February diary, but its Saturday arrival refers to the preceding day; proposed future deliveries are not completed actions. The UN digest was issued on 16 February.^{5 6 7 8}

• Which actions were carried out, and which were proposals or later reports?
• How do the named people and institutions clarify what was at stake?