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They then closed in on it from several directions. A fierce battle followed and ended with the convoy’s surrender. The entire convoy had been threatened with destruction if it did not surrender. The fighters captured all the convoy’s weapons and vehicles. It contained more than 300 men, of whom 140 fell dead or wounded. English soldiers hurried to rescue the convoy, but arrived late, after its surrender.

The Holy War Army’s plan called for defending Jerusalem, which the Jews had surrounded with a number of fortified settlements because it was their religious and political objective. The martyred commander Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni therefore adopted, from his departure from Egypt and arrival in the Jerusalem area, a plan to defend it by attacking the Jewish settlements surrounding it to the north, east, and south, disrupting their movement and rendering them unable to carry out any military plan. He attacked the Nabi Ya‘qub and Atarot settlements north of the city on the Jerusalem-Nablus road and neutralized their operations. He then sent detachments to the settlements south and west, Mekor Haim, Ramat Rahel, and Talpiot. They attacked them until their operations were suppressed. He then advanced toward Jerusalem and attacked the Haganah force in Sanhedria, next to Sheikh Jarrah, inflicting heavy losses on it. The demolition unit operating under his command blew up the Montefiore neighborhood, Ben-Yehuda Street, the Jewish Agency building, and the Palestine Post building. These operations deprived the Jews of sleep, spread terror and panic among them, and resulted in hundreds of dead and wounded and the loss of property worth millions of pounds.

In a letter he sent me on 4 January 1948, he wrote:

“The Jews are moving forces from everywhere to Jerusalem. Haganah losses in Jerusalem are very heavy. We are trying to cut all the Jewish transportation routes leading to Jerusalem. We move from place to place according to circumstances and contact the responsible men to establish a fixed system and concentrate responsibilities in the various areas. Our attack remains defensive, to raise morale and remove some dangerous Jewish positions that must be removed to facilitate the task of defense...”

The first letter I received from the martyred commander about his entry into Palestine and arrival in the Jerusalem area was dated 24 December 1947. It included:

“I reached the country two days ago and began my contacts. I carried out the following:

1. Arranging a strong guard for the command.

2. Arranging snipers around the settlements.