Operation Pitchfork

[citation needed] At midnight on Friday 14 May, the British declared their civil and military authority in Jerusalem to be at an end.

These were heavily fortified security zones that the British had built up around key installations in the city to protect against Irgun attacks.

[1] From 1946 to 1948, security zones with huge coils of barbed wire filling the streets and dragon's teeth blocking the incursion of armed vehicles began appearing around Jerusalem.

[2][3] One such zone, established in 1946,[4] encompassed the eastern end of Jaffa Road and included the Russian Compound, the Anglo-Palestine Bank, the Central Post Office, and the Generali Building.

The Irgun forces hoisted the Israeli flag over the lion statue on the roof before moving on to take control of the Russian Compound and the Police Academy further north.

Irgun formation during Operation Kilshon
Princess Mary Street in Jerusalem, 1948, blocked by barbed wire , was dubbed "Bevingrad" after Ernest Bevin . The building on the right is the Generali Building , which housed the British main quartermaster .