and elders. Most fled to the Old City and some fled to the southern part of Qatamon which was around the Iraqi consulate defended by the Jordanian Arab Legion. Some of the middle-class residents found refuge in Bethlehem. The Arab authorities tried to stem the flight and many young men who fled to the Old City returned to Qatamon. Hala al-Sakakini, the daughter of Palestinian scholar and poet Khalil al-Sakakini and a resident of Katamon, described in her diary how frightened residents fled their homes and did not respond to the orders to remain. By March only a few families remained in the neighborhood, guarded by irregular forces based on San Simon Monastery. During the war, attacks by the Arab side originated from the Greek Orthodox Saint Simeon Monastery in Katamon that was located in a strategic point overlooking the Jewish neighborhoods. On mid April the Jewish leadership halted Operation Harel near Jerusalem and ordered the Harel Brigade to deploy in the city and conduct Operation Yevusi. The reason behind the order was false reports of a fast British evacuation from the city and that the Arabs are deploying large forces in the city in order to fill the vacuum. In the battle over Katamon, which was centered around the St. Simeon monastery, most of the Arab fighters in the city participated, after they were called upon by the local militia. Fighters from the nearby Arab villages refused to send support, claiming they needed to defend themselves. The commander of the Arab forces, Ibrahim Abu-Dayyeh(he), was one of the prominent Arab commanders and earned respect due to his involvement during the battle over the Nabi Daniel Convoy and the battle over Sheikh Jarrah. His men were equipped with light weapons and homemade armoured vehicles as well as ones looted from the battle of Nabi Daniel. Against them were the Jewish fighters of the fourth battalion of the Harel Brigade, who were exhausted from the constant fighting in earlier battles. During the fights both sides suffered from total exhaustion. The Arabs called on the Jordanian Arab Legion to intervene but they refused. When the Arabs saw no reinforcement will arrive they decided to halt their attack and withdrew, letting to Jews take the neighborhood. The loss of the neighborhood was followed by massive looting by Jewish soldiers and civilians alike. Hagit Shlonsky, who lived nearby, wrote For days you could see