From 13–18 May 1948 Jewish forces from theHaganah andIrgun executedOperation Pitchfork (mivtza kilshon). Its aim was to capture the Jewish suburbs ofJerusalem, particularlyTalbiya in central Jerusalem.[citation needed]
At midnight on Friday 14 May, the British declared their civil and military authority in Jerusalem to be at an end. In the morning they evacuated the city in two large convoys, one moved north towardsHaifa and the other south towardsBethlehem. The Zionists managed to obtain a schedule of their withdrawal in advance and could thereafter launch the operation almost immediately.
TheYishuv forces quickly managed to take control of buildings that the British had nationalized in "Bevingrad" zones. These were heavily fortified security zones that the British had built up around key installations in the city to protect against Irgun attacks.[1] From 1946 to 1948, security zones with huge coils ofbarbed wire filling the streets anddragon's teeth blocking the incursion of armed vehicles began appearing around Jerusalem.[2][3]
One such zone, established in 1946,[4] encompassed the eastern end of Jaffa Road and included theRussian Compound, the Anglo-Palestine Bank, theCentral Post Office, and theGenerali Building.[2][3] Jerusalemites called these fortified zones "Bevingrad", aportmanteau of the name of the British Foreign SecretaryErnest Bevin, who had deniedHolocaust survivors entry to Palestine,[2] and the Russian city ofStalingrad, where large-scale fortifications had been emplaced prior to the 1942Battle of Stalingrad.[5]
On Friday, 14 May 1948, the Irgun forces headed for the Bevingrad on Jaffa Road. The first building they captured was the Generali Building, now evacuated. The Irgun forces hoisted the Israeli flag over the lion statue on the roof before moving on to take control of the Russian Compound and the Police Academy further north.[3][6][7]
They also captured the Notre Dame Church, theAmerican Colony,Sheikh Jarrah,Talbiya,German Colony,Baka,Talpiot, and theGreek Colony.
A large portion of what was captured was to become the Israeli-controlled portion of Jerusalem—"West Jerusalem"—but some of the heaviest battles of the1948 Arab-Israeli war were to follow and the Jerusalem frontier was to be redrawn many times.
31°46′51.49″N35°13′24.44″E / 31.7809694°N 35.2234556°E /31.7809694; 35.2234556
