1947 – 1948 From the Partition Resolution to the British Departure
(Note: This section expands on material appearing under The Creation of Modern Israel. It is included as an essential part of the narrative.)
Active warfare commenced immediately after the UN Partition Resolution of 29 November 1947, and before the British departure. The Arab Higher Committee called a general strike and local Arab militias attacked Jewish settlements, Jewish quarters in the cities and Jewish buses.
The UK and the US imposed an arms embargo on Palestine, but the British continued to supply weapons to Trans-Jordan and Iraq. The Jewish forces smuggled arms from Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, since at this time they still had support from the Communist bloc.
In January 1948 Fauzi al Kaukji, who had joined the Mufti in Germany during the world war, led the Arab Liberation Army across the border from Lebanon, attacked towns and settlements in the north of the country and moved south towards Tel Aviv, and the Arab Higher Committee operated in the centre. By March 1948 Arab forces had cut the road to Jerusalem, which was later bombarded by the artillery of the Trans-Jordanian Arab Legion, commanded by the British Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb.