Night of the bridges

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Operation Markolet (known as the Night of the Bridges) was a Haganah venture on the night of the 16th to the 17th of June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine. Its aim was to destroy 11 bridges linking Palestine to the neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt in order to immobilize its transportation.

Operation Merkolet was the largest and most comprehensive Haganah operation within the United Resistance framework, and it was also the final one. But it achieved its goal, transportation was suspended.

Only one operation failed: the Palmach suffered 14 casualties and 5 injuries at the Nahal Akhziv bridges. The other operations succeeded without injuries.

To disguise and protect the real operations and to confuse the British, around 50 diversion operations and ambushes were carried out throughout the country on the same night. But also the Palmach members could return easier due to the common confusion.

Contents 1 Preparations 1.1 Spared bridges 2 Objectives 3 Outcome 3.1 Targeted bridges 4 External links

[edit] Preparations

The Haganah started the preparations in January-February 1946. First, the SHAI (Hagana Intelligence Service), Palmach patrols and forces scheduled to carry out the operation began spotting, photographing and measuring the targets but also exploring possible access and escape paths. They were disguised as lovers in the nature or as geography excursions.

Originally, the operation should have taken place in May, but due to political reasons it was postponed.

The political leadership forbade to attack 3 targets.

[edit] Spared bridges

Bridge	Type	To country	Coordinates	Reason
Ras a-Nakura tunnel, Rosh HaNikra	railway	Lebanon	33°05′41″N, 35°06′16″E	Restoring the tunnel would be too difficult and it was within Lebanon
Yarmuk, Gesher	railway	Jordan	32°38′42″N, 35°34′22″E	Led to the power station in Naharayim
Jordan, Gesher	railway	Jordan	32°38′06″N, 35°33′57″E	Led to the power station in Naharayim

[edit] Objectives

The planners knew that the operation couldn't cause heavy damage, and that it would take some weeks for the connections to be restored. The real targets were:

• demonstration of the mighty power of the Haganah to operate throughout the country, even in deserted areas or at the center of the Arab population
• demonstration of the essential sabotage of the British army's operation
• demonstration of the ability of the Haganah to neighboring armies to avoid future involvements
• harm the British army's prestige as the most powerful nation in the Middle East and damage the British Mandate
• strengthen and encourage the Jewish population in Israel, and to show the Haganah is as active as the Irgun and Lechi group

[edit] Outcome

The objectives were fully accomplished. The Haganah could hit strategic targets at the same time. As a precaution, the Syrian, Lebanese and Trans-Jordanian armies were put on standby, and the borders were tightened. The British Mandate lost a lot of its prestige and suffered a damage of 250.000 sterling.

[edit] Targeted bridges

Bridge	type	to country	coordinates	details
Nahal Ayyun, Metula	road	Lebanon	33°17′0″N, 35°34′52″E	were unguarded,
NW of Metula	road	Lebanon	33°17′14″N, 35°33′58″E	executed discretely,
Nahal Akhziv	road	Lebanon	33°03′02″N, 35°06′11.5″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire, operation failed, 14 casualties and 5 injuries
Nahal Akhziv	railway	Lebanon	33°03′02″N, 35°06′15.5″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire, operation failed, 14 casualties and 5 injuries
Banot Ya'aqov	road	Syria	33°0′37″N, 35°37′42″E	executed discretely,
Yarmuk	railway	Syria	32°40′47″N, 35°38′58″E	were unguarded,
Sheikh Hussein	road	Jordan	32°29′49″N, 35°34′32″E	executed discretely,
Damiya (Adam)	road	Jordan	32°06′10″N, 35°32′06″E	executed discretely
Allenby	road	Jordan	31°52′28″N, 35°32′26″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire
Nahal Habsor, Gaza	road	Egypt	31°27′20″N, 34°24′53″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire
Nahal Habsor, Gaza	railway	Egypt	31°27′27″N, 34°24′44″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire

After the attacks, the British army began broad investigations in the settlements near the destroyed targets in the hope to find weapon caches. Two weeks later, on June 29th 1946, operation Agatha was launched with the goal to capture many Palmach members. During that surprise action, more than 2,700 Jews were arrested, including the senior leadership of the Haganah. The British discovered important papers proving the role of the Unified Resistance, which were stored at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. That led later to the King David Hotel bombing.

[edit] External links

• Homepage of the Palmach