The settlements were isolated, and the nearest Jewish point (about 20 kilometers away) was Jerusalem, though the road to it passed through a hostile Arab area, including the city of Bethlehem.
The convoy was on its way to deliver supplies to the residents of the Etzion Bloc, including food, water, gas canisters for cooking, kitchen utensils, and sacks of flour.
Five to ten minutes later, at the 15-kilometer mark, the convoy reached a sharp turn that forced the vehicles to slow down as they ascended the hill.
The bullets hit the radiator of the lead vehicle and the face of its driver, causing it to stop, blocking the path of the rest of the convoy.
The last vehicle in the convoy, carrying Dani Mass, Yitzhak Yaakov, and the other Palmach members, reversed back to the Bethlehem police station to call for help.
According to Uri Milstein, following this event, Mass had to leave his command over Gush Etzion and the bloc itself, as he had abandoned his men during the battle.
About 15 minutes after the attack began, two British traffic police officers arrived from Hebron and ordered the Arabs to cease fire.
Upon arriving at the Bethlehem police station, the Notrim commander contacted Jerusalem, requested assistance and ambulances, and demanded that the British officer on-site dispatch troops to the scene of the attack.
This attack signaled to the bloc’s settlements that they were in the midst of a war and under a partial siege that periodically tightened into a full blockade.
The residents conducted patrols, searched Arabs moving through the area, and accelerated the digging of fortifications around the settlements of Gush Etzion.