 After the failure of widespread and determined Turkish counterattacks fought from 27 November to 1 December by the 7th Turkish Army they evacuated Jerusalem . Troops from the Australian Mounted Division were the first mounted troops to enter Jerusalem in December 1917 . Towards the end of December the British Empire forces at the Battle of Jaffa and the Defence of Jerusalem succeeded in pushing the Turkish armies north . A strong British defensive line was established which remained in place until mid September 1918 . The line stretched across from well north of the Nahr el Auja on the Mediterranean coast in the west to north and east of Jerusalem . It was extended during the middle of February 1918 when Jericho in the Jordan Valley was captured and the eastern end of the line was secured on the Dead Sea . 
