The Battle of al-Yamun in 1938: Palestinian Rebels Confront British Forces

On March 3, 1938, according to the Palestinian Encyclopedia, the al-Yamun area near Jenin witnessed a battle between Palestinian rebels led by Sheikh Atiyya Ahmad Awad and British forces during the Great Palestinian Revolt.

Preparing for the Confrontation

The battle followed attacks by Sheikh Atiyya’s units on British police and military posts in Jenin, during which they seized weapons and ammunition. British commanders responded by dispatching troops to sweep the area and pursue the rebels.

Anticipating an attack, Sheikh Atiyya deployed his fighters in commanding positions, including the heights stretching from Kafr Dan to al-Yamun, to confront the advancing forces.

Encirclement and Withdrawal

According to the Palestinian Encyclopedia, approximately 300 rebels faced a British force of around 3,000 soldiers supported by nine aircraft. Fighting began in the morning after British troops surrounded the rebel positions and continued until nightfall, when the surviving fighters managed to open a gap in the encirclement and withdraw.

The Death of Sheikh Atiyya Awad

Sheikh Atiyya Ahmad Awad was killed during the battle. The encyclopedia cites rebel accounts reporting the deaths of nine of their fighters, alongside more than thirty men from reinforcements arriving from neighboring villages. The rebels estimated British casualties at more than seventy killed or wounded. These figures differ from the British figures cited by the same source.

The Battle of al-Yamun illustrates the intensity of the fighting in the Jenin region during the revolt and the rebels’ ability to escape encirclement despite British superiority in numbers and weaponry.