Night of the Bridges

Operation Markolet (known as Night of the Bridges) was a Haganah venture on the night of the 16th to the 17th of June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine. Its aim was to destroy eleven bridges linking Palestine to the neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, in order to immobilize its transportation.

Operation Merkolet was the largest and most comprehensive Haganah operation within the United Resistance framework, and it was also the final one. But it achieved its goal; transportation was suspended.

Only one operation failed: the Palmach suffered 14 killed and 5 injuries at the Nahal Akhziv bridges. The other operations succeeded without injuries.

To disguise and protect the real operations and to confuse the British Army, around 50 diversion operations and ambushes were carried out throughout the country on the same night. The Palmach members could return easier due to the common confusion.

Preparations

The Haganah started the preparations in January-February 1946. First, the SHAI (Hagana Intelligence Service), Palmach patrols and forces scheduled to carry out the operation began spotting, photographing and measuring the targets but also exploring possible access and escape paths. They were disguised as lovers enjoying nature or as geography excursions.

Originally, the operation should have taken place in May, but due to political reasons it was postponed.

The political leadership forbade an attack on three targets.

Spared bridges

Bridge	Type	To country	Coordinates	Reason
Ras a-Nakura tunnel, Rosh HaNikra	railway	Lebanon	33°05′41″N 35°06′16″E	Restoring the tunnel would be too difficult and it was within Lebanon
Yarmuk, Gesher	railway	Jordan	32°38′42″N 35°34′22″E	Led to the power station in Naharayim
Jordan, Gesher	railway	Jordan	32°38′06″N 35°33′57″E	Led to the power station in Naharayim

Objectives

Yarmouk bridge ruins

The planners knew that the operation could not cause heavy damage, and that it would take some weeks for the connections to be restored. The real targets were:

• demonstration of the ability of the Haganah to operate throughout the country, even in deserted areas or at the center of the Arab population
• demonstration of the ability to sabotage the British army's operation
• demonstration of the ability of the Haganah to discourage neighboring armies from future involvement
• harming the British army's prestige as the most powerful force in the Middle East and damaging the legitimacy of the British Mandate
• strengthening and encouraging the Jewish population in Palestine, and showing the Haganah as being as active as the Irgun and Lehi groups

Outcome

The objectives were fully accomplished. The Haganah could hit strategic targets at the same time. As a precaution, the Syrian, Lebanese and Trans-Jordanian armies were put on standby, and the borders were tightened. The British Mandate lost a lot of its prestige and suffered a damage of 250,000 pound sterling. Twelve days after the attack the British authorities retaliated by imposing a curfew on Jewish communities and launching a security operation known as Black Sabbath. Despite the involvement of 20,000 British troops and the arrest of 3,000 Jews no major damage was done to the Haganah.

Targeted bridges

Bridge	type	to country	coordinates	details
Nahal Ayyun, Metula	road	Lebanon	33°17′0″N 35°34′52″E	was unguarded,
NW of Metula	road	Lebanon	33°17′14″N 35°33′58″E	executed discreetly,
Nahal Akhziv	railway	Lebanon	33°03′02″N 35°06′11.5″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire, operation failed, 14 casualties and 5 injuries
Nahal Akhziv	road	Lebanon	33°03′02″N 35°06′15.5″E	called off following the heavy casualties taken during the attack on the nearby railway bridge
Banot Ya'aqov	road	Syria	33°0′37″N 35°37′42″E	executed discreetly,
Yarmuk	railway	Syria	32°40′47″N 35°38′58″E	was unguarded,
Sheikh Hussein	road	Jordan	32°29′49″N 35°34′32″E	executed discreetly,
Damiya (Adam)	road	Jordan	32°06′10″N 35°32′06″E	executed discreetly
Allenby	road	Jordan	31°52′28″N 35°32′26″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire
Nahal Habsor, Gaza	road	Egypt	31°27′20″N 34°24′53″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire
Nahal Habsor, Gaza	railway	Egypt	31°27′27″N 34°24′44″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire

Bnot Ya'akov Bridge in May 2009.

After the attacks, the British army began broad investigations in the settlements near the destroyed targets in the hope to find weapon caches. Two weeks later, on June 29, 1946, Operation Agatha was launched with the goal to capture many Palmach members. During that surprise action, more than 2,700 Jews were arrested, including the senior leadership of the Haganah. The British discovered important papers proving the role of the Unified Resistance, which were stored at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. That led to the King David Hotel bombing on July 22, 1946.

External links

• Homepage of the Palmach