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The Battle of Jerusalem was a major battle of World War I's Sinai and Palestine campaign which was fought from 17 November to 30 December 1917. British and Commonwealth forces under Edmund Allenby captured the holy city of Jerusalem after several battles with the Turks on the city's outskirts, and Allenby triumphantly entered Jerusalem on foot on 11 December 1917, showing respect for the city's religious significance. Prime Minister David Lloyd George described the victory as a "Christmas present for the British people."

History[]

In November 1917, the British general Edmund Allenby broke through the Ottoman Turkish positions at Gaza as Lawrence of Arabia's Arab forces drove through the desert. Two Ottoman armies were forced to retreat north and form a new defensive line southwest of Jerusalem, but they suffered heavily from desertion and demoralization. The British occupied Jaffa after the battle of Mughar Ridge on 16 November, and the British forces' capture of the Hebron Junction Station cut Turkish rail links with Jerusalem, forcing the Ottoman 8th Army to withdraw northward as the Ottoman 7th Army was left behind to defend Jerusalem. The British advance was slowed by winter rains, enabling Erich von Falkenhayn's Yildirim Army Group to come into action in late November. The German-Ottoman forces attacked the Egyptian Expeditionary Force at Nebi Samwil (the Tomb of Samuel) on 18-24 November 1917, but the British were able to hold off the Central Powers forces. On the night of 6 December, the British launched a surprise attack through the heavy rain and broke through the Turkish defenses on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and commanders on both sides agreed that no fighting was to occur in Jerusalem itself. On 11 December, General Allenby entered Jerusalem's Old City on foot through the Jaffa Gate, becoming the first Christian in hundreds of years to control Jerusalem. The British established a new defensive line from Jaffa on the maritime plain to Bireh (north of Jerusalem, among the Judean Hills) and eastwards of the Mount of Olives.

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