The First Malkiyya Battle
On 13.5.48 the headquarters of Operation Yiftach issued "Operational Order No.9: "We must take control of the Gush Ramot Naftali Bloc in order to use it as a forward position in the event of a Lebanese invasion, seize the Nabi Yusha police station and safeguard transport to Ramot Naftali and Menarah…" Reports of a large concentration of the Lebanese army and volunteers close to Malkiyya raised fears that the enemy would try to invade, in an attempt to isolate the Upper Galilee.
The Arab village of Malkiyya was located close to the Lebanese border, at a crossroads through which the Lebanese army and the "Rescue Army" could penetrate the Galilee. In mid-April 1948 the British had handed over a police station next to the village to the Arabs.
On 13.5.48 the headquarters of Operation Yiftach issued "Operational Order No.9": "We must take control of the Gush Ramot Naftali Bloc in order to use it as a forward position in the event of a Lebanese invasion, seize the Nabi Yusha police station and safeguard transport to Ramot Naftali and Menarah." Reports of a large concentration of the Lebanese army and volunteers close to Malkiyya raised fears that the enemy would try to invade, in an attempt to isolate the Upper Galilee. According to intelligence reports, there were about 400 Syrian and Lebanese fighters. Across the border, 250 horsemen had assembled. Intelligence reports spoke of army movements along the Syrian and Lebanese borders. Yiftach headquarters decided to surprise the enemy by to pre-empting an attack and launching one of their own. The purpose would be to obtain control of Malkiyya and the nearby military base, close off the Malkiyya-Sasa road to traffic through the central Galilee and to occupy Tel Qedesh. The attack would also indirectly serve the occupation of the Nabi Yusha fortress.
On 13.5.48 the headquarters of Operation Yiftach issued "Operational Order No.9": "We must take control of the Gush Ramot Naftali Bloc in order to use it as a forward position in the event of a Lebanese invasion, seize the Nabi Yusha police station and safeguard transport to Ramot Naftali and Menarah." Reports of a large concentration of the Lebanese army and volunteers close to Malkiyya raised fears that the enemy would try to invade, in an attempt to isolate the Upper Galilee. According to intelligence reports, there were about 400 Syrian and Lebanese fighters. Across the border, 250 horsemen had assembled. Intelligence reports spoke of army movements along the Syrian and Lebanese borders. Yiftach headquarters decided to surprise the enemy by to pre-empting an attack and launching one of their own. The purpose would be to obtain control of Malkiyya and the nearby military base, close off the Malkiyya-Sasa road to traffic through the central Galilee and to occupy Tel Qedesh. The attack would also indirectly serve the occupation of the Nabi Yusha fortress.