On the Friday night the Turkish armies were thus in
a hopeless position. Our infantry, pivoting on theirleft, advanced last Saturday north-eastward through the rugged Samaritan hills towards Samaria and Shechem, driving the Turks before them, under incessant fire from our airmen, towards our cavalry, who were now moving down from the north. The Turkish left clung obstinately to the hills above the Jordan, in the vain hope of covering a retreat across the river at Jisr ed Damieh. But few Turks escaped by this route, and early last Sunday the New Zealanders occupied the crossing and shut the last door upon the enemy. The two Turkish armies were caught in a trap. It only remained to collect the prisoners, forty thousand of whom had been counted by Tuesday, and the enormous booty of guns and transport. Haifa, the only good port in Palestine, and Acre were occupied on Monday. Northern Galilee, remote from railways, cannot be held by the Turks. General Allenby has thus freed the Holy Land by his wonderful victory.
