Battat was from the town of ad-Dhahiriya in the Hebron Subdistrict of the British Mandate of Palestine.
[2][3] The authorities put a bounty on Battat for Starkey's death and other alleged crimes,[2] and his whereabouts were made known to them by a Palestinian informant.
[4] Battat and his men were ambushed by British forces in the hills around Hebron on 7 May 1938, leading to a heavy, two-hour-long firefight.
[2] Rebels retaliated by executing a Palestinian from Beit Ummar charged with tracking Battat on behalf of the authorities.
Abd al-Rahman al-'Azzi, a village leader from Beit Jibrin, was suspected by the al-Husayni faction of informing the authorities about Battat's location and was consequently compelled to organize armed rebel activity in his region to compensate for his alleged collaboration.