Operation Hametz (, Mivtza Hametz) was a Jewish operation towards the end of the British Mandate of Palestine, as part of the 1948 Palestine war. It was launched at the end of April 1948 with the objective of capturing villages inland from Jaffa and establishing a blockade around the town. The operation, which led to the first direct battle between the British and the Irgun, was seen as a great victory for the latter, and enabled the Irgun to take credit for the complete conquest of Jaffa that happened on May 13. Background Hours after the UN resolution to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, sniper fire was exchanged by both Jewish and Arab fighters between Jaffa and Tel Aviv. In the ensuing 5 months, while the British officially maintained the Mandate, these attacks led to the deaths of over 1,000 inhabitants of Tel Aviv according to the testimony of Yoseph Nachmias, an Irgun regular and explosives expert. During the same time, 30,000 people left Jaffa, leaving a population of between 50,000 and 60,000. The operation On the morning of 25 April 1948 the Irgun (a Jewish paramilitary group) launched a full-scale attack on Jaffa from Tel Aviv. Israeli historians maintain that the Haganah (another Jewish paramilitary group from which the Irgun had split off) had no prior warning of the attack but soon after its start the Haganah and the Irgun came to an agreement whereby the Irgun troops would be under the command of local Haganah commanders. The Irgun offensive included a continuous three-day mortar bombardment of the town centre. The operation involved attacks from the north by the Alexandroni Brigade and by the Givati Brigade from the south. They met little or no resistance. The Irgun captured the neighborhood of Menashiya. The Kiryati Brigade failed in its assault on the southern Jaffa suburb of Tel al-Rish. According to LeBor on the attack on Jaffa: The offensive alarmed the British. Jewish forces had just captured the Arab areas of Haifa, and as a result, the British government feared for its position in the Middle East, worrying that the Arabs would develop greater antagonism against the British. The British Army was concerned that increased Arab hostility would endanger British troops - British forces were by then evacuating Palestine, and as they used routes that passed through Arab-populated territory, it was feared that withdrawing units could be attacked. British