On the evening of Tuesday, May 11, 1948, al-Mwawi attended a secret meeting of the Egyptian parliament to discuss the declaration of war.

Before the voting of the parliament, he warned that the Egyptian Army was not prepared, opining that there would be little real fighting.

The battle plan was unclear and war aims were vague, making al-Mwawi uncertain of his objectives.

On May 14, Mwawi was promoted by Royal decree to the rank of major general and appointed commander of the southern sector of the Palestine theater of the Egyptian army operations.

[1] He sent a report to Cairo headquarters, on July 18, 1948, during the second truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, describing the shortages in armaments and supplies.