110. Is it true that between Declaration 181 and Israel’s Independence they lived through a civil war?

The first part of the Independence War was the civil confrontation between the local Arabs and the Jews of the British Mandate, which extended from the day of the Partition to the Independence of Israel (May/14/1948). The day after Declaration 181 (Nov/29/1947), seven Jews were murdered by Arabs in three different incidents: at eight a.m. three Arabs attacked a bus that was traveling from Natania to Jerusalem and killed five Jewish passengers. Then, another bus was attacked and one Jew died and at the end of the day, there was a murder in Jaffa. In Jerusalem, the Supreme Arab Committee proclaimed a three-day general strike that would begin on Friday’s Dec/2/1948 prayer. The attacks intensified and on Dec/11/1947, the correspondent of The Times in Jerusalem estimated that there were 130 deaths, from which 70 were Jews, 50 Arabs and 4 British. The civil war centered on a fight for controlling the highways around the isolated and mixed cities. The combat in the mixed cities (Haifa, Safed or Tiberiades) was characterized by shots and attacks by Arab snipers. The Jewish forces made a considerable effort to maintain contact with the isolated settlements by sending convoys. The month of March 1948 was hard on the highways because of an attack on the convoy from Nebi Daniel (15 deceased and 40 wounded) when it was returning from Gush Etzion or the Yehiam convoy (46 deceased) on their way to the kibbutz. That month’s deaths created doubts about the capacity of the Jewish community to defend itself, which lead to a presentation of proposals to establish a trust in Palestine or new considerations before the UN. The Jews decided, instead, to execute the Plan Dalet.