Day 90 of 599 of מלחמת העצמאות MILḤEMET HAʾAẒMAʾUT (War of Independence)

The speech presented partition as the final compromise and challenged further delays in implementation. Its full study is משה שרת MOŜE SHARETT defended partition at the Security Council.. The same day's imperial letter generally barred recruitment, training and equipping of the proposed militias before the Mandate ended, while permitting specified local police arrangements. That documentary event is The English Empire restricted preparations for militias..^{1 2}

A separate Agency letter notified the commission that its liaison had left for health reasons and that the chairman of the Anglo-Palestine Bank, זיגפריד הופיין SIEGFRIED HOOFIEN, would cooperate particularly on economic affairs. The letter records an appointment, not proof that reserve restrictions were lifted or a new economic agreement concluded.³

JTA's 27 February bulletin describes an assault on the heights defending the hospital and university, followed by pursuit into وادي الجوز WADI JOZ and demolition of houses. It reports approximately thirty Arab dead and a similar number wounded. Klir gives another account and toll. Because the reports may cover overlapping fighting on 26–27 February, their figures must not be added or all assigned to a new battle on the twenty-seventh.^{4 5}

The account supports defense of medical and educational institutions and a subsequent offensive action. It does not establish that the attackers captured the hospital, or that every person in the demolished houses was a fighter.

The supplied Institute for Palestine Studies account places flight from the village of وادي عارة WADI ARA on 27 February, citing fear of attack. Direct retrieval was blocked. Its 1944–45 population estimate of 230 cannot be used as a count of those who fled. A later attack during the night of 27–28 February is a separate episode and does not prove an expulsion order on the twenty-seventh.⁶ No verified departure roster, return record or denial-of-return order was recovered.

A confidential American memorandum of 27 February discusses alternatives including renewed Assembly consideration and possible trusteeship. It is evidence of options under discussion, not a completed policy announcement. Its distinction between maintaining peace and enforcing partition helps explain the uncertainty confronting institutions preparing independence.⁷

The day's record therefore combines documented speeches and letters with less securely dated local reporting. That difference remains visible rather than being erased to produce a falsely exact daily total.

This is Day 90 of the 599-day civil-date series: 1948-02-27. Its daytime portion maps to י״ז באדר א׳ ה׳תש״ח 17th 𝑜𝑓 Adar I, AM 5708. After local sunset, the Hebrew date changes to י״ח באדר א׳ ה׳תש״ח 18th 𝑜𝑓 Adar I, AM 5708. This calendar convention does not prove that every reported act occurred in daylight.

The speech, liaison appointment, militia letter and American memorandum are assigned 27 February. The speech’s JTA report was published 29 February. Local fighting may overlap 26–27 February. The village-flight date is a later reconstruction available through the supplied research; the night 27–28 February crosses both the civil batch boundary and the transition to 18 Adar I. ⁸

• What does the dated evidence establish, and what remains uncertain?
• How did this event affect the safety, institutions or sovereignty of יהודים YEHUDIM?