[8] When his loyalty as an Ottoman officer was questioned because of his Arab origins, von Leyser wrote a letter in his defense, which states: This is to confirm that First Lieutenant Fawzi Bey served with me in his capacity as companion and aide from 1/3/16 until 12/5/17.

In 1920, he fought at the Battle of Maysalun, serving in the army of King Faisal as a captain (ra'is khayyal) in a squadron commanded by Taha al-Hashimi.

He represented the Iraqi Society for the Defense of Palestine, which was separate from forces under the control of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Husseini.

[13] Al-Qawuqji resigned his commission in the Iraqi army and his position at the Royal Military College to lead approximately fifty armed guerrillas into Mandatory Palestine.

[15] In August, he commanded about 200 volunteers, consisting of Iraqis, Syrians, Druze and Palestinians whom he organized into four reinforced platoons, each with an intelligence unit attached,[16] operating in the Nablus–Tulkaram–Jenin triangle until the end of October.

With the assistance of 5,000 local villagers, and the connivance of British authorities, on orders from London, who refrained from acting on their intelligence, and had vacated the area, interdicting attempts to intercept him, he crossed the Jordan River with his troops on the night of 25/26 October into Transjordan.

[18] In November 1936, the leading Sheikhs of Bani Sakhr, Mithqal Al-Fayez and Haditha Al-Khraisha, accompanied Fawzi Al-Qawuqji, Supreme Commander of the Arab Revolution in South-Syrian Palestine, through the desert to ensure his safe journey.

[20] Although al-Qawuqji and Grand Mufti al-Husseini had periods of considerable friction and discord, particularly during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine,[20] the two men subsequently reached a rapprochement.

[11] After the Rashid Ali regime collapsed, al-Qawuqji and his irregular forces were targeted for destruction by the Mercol flying column and were chased out of Iraq.

[11][25] He remained in Germany for the remainder of World War II, recuperated from his wounds, and married a German woman named Anneliese Müller.

[27] Gilbert Achcar recounts stories of conflicts during his Berlin period: In his memoirs, he tells how, during his stay in hospital, he came under heavy pressure from German civilian and military officials to declare his allegiance to the führer.

[28] In May 1942, after the Axis powers signed secret documents to support the Arab nationalists, al-Qawuqji expressed dissatisfaction with the results, commenting that they were "just symbolic and not an agreement".

[29] He was awarded the rank of a colonel of the Wehrmacht (German Army), and given a captain to act as his aide, along with a chauffeured car, and an apartment near the clinic at Hansa.

30", wrote about al-Qawuqji's 'active interest' and support of the military training of Arabs by the Nazis: Thus a number of the volunteers had already secretly contacted Fauzi Kaikyi, the Syrian army leader.

[32] This memorandum's subject was the need for German–Arab alliance in Iraq, and included discussions of geography, desert warfare, and combined propaganda efforts directed against Jews.

[34] Gen. Felmy's memoirs (written after the war when he was a prisoner of the allies and published by the US Army) mention the political conflicts between the 'chieftains' (Grand Mufti Husseini and former Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali) among Arabs receiving military training in Greece, and their consequent contact with al-Qawuqji.

[42] The British troops' inaction infuriated General Sir Gordon MacMillan, who stated that al-Qawuqji should not be allowed "to go openly rampaging over territory in which Britain considered herself a sovereign power."

[43] According to Collins and Lapierre, Al-Qawuqji told his troops that the purpose was "ridding Palestine of the Zionist plague", and his aim was "to drive all the Jews into the sea.

"[37][44] Historian Shay Hazkani disagrees, writing that ALA propaganda contains no mention of genocidal threats such as pushing Jews into the sea.

[45][46] In April 1948, the ALA mounted a major attack on the kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek which sat near the strategic road that connected Haifa to Jenin, and was surrounded by Arab villages.

[49] In July, al-Qawuqji launched a rolling offensive of counterattacks, focusing on Ilaniya (Sejera), a Jewish settlement deep in ALA territory.

[50] The ALA established control of upper central Galilee, from the Sakhnin–Arabe–Deir Hanna line through Majd al-Krum up to the Lebanese border until October 1948.

The Haganah then informed the United Nations that in view of al-Qawuqji's actions it did not feel encumbered by the UN's cease-fire order, and on 24 October launched Operation Hiram.

Historian Benny Morris concludes that although the Israelis had planned for Operation Hiram, they might not have launched this campaign without the justification provided by al-Qawuqji's military provocations.