However the mutual attacks continued . The Irgun attacked the Arab villages of Tira near Haifa , Yehudiya ( ' Abassiya ) in the center , and Shuafat by Jerusalem . The Irgun also attacked in the Wadi Rushmiya neighborhood in Haifa and Abu Kabir in Jaffa . On December 29 Irgun units arrived by boat to the Jaffa shore and a gunfight between them and Arab gangs ensued . The following day a bomb was thrown from a speeding Irgun car at a group of Arab men waiting to be hired for the day at the Haifa oil refinery , resulting in seven Arabs killed , and dozens injured . In response , some Arab workers attacked Jews in the area , killing 41 . This sparked a Haganah response in Balad al-Sheykh , which resulted in the deaths of 60 civilians . The Irgun 's goal in the fighting was to move the battles from Jewish populated areas to Arab populated areas . On January 1 , 1948 the Irgun attacked again in Jaffa , its men wearing British uniforms ; later in the month it attacked in Beit Nabala , a base for many Arab fighters . On 5 January 1948 the Irgun detonated a lorry bomb outside Jaffa 's Ottoman built Town Hall , killing 14 and injuring 19 . In Jerusalem , two days later , Irgun members in a stolen police van rolled a barrel bomb into a large group of civilians who were waiting for a bus by the Jaffa Gate , killing around sixteen . In the pursuit that followed three of the attackers were killed and two taken prisoner
attacked Jews in the area
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre
Irgun