Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Mordechai Gichon cites: “Many joined up for active service in the regular British Army. Tthere was no all-Jewish fighting force that could face the Nazis on the front lines. Instead there was a Jewish battalion attached to the British Army’s East Kent Regiment stationed in Palestine. They called the battalion the ‘Palestine Buffs’ because of the color of the uniforms.”

Shortly before the battle of Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎, Haganah הגנה district intelligence officer Mordechai Gichon's lookouts reported that armed men were moving between Ein Kerem עין כרם‎ and Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎, some wearing Iraqi uniforms, and while many of them had entered Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎, only a few had returned to Ein Kerem עין כרם‎.
Mordechai Gihon led two reconnaissance sorties into Ein Kerem, adjacent to Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎, and returned with documents revealing regular contacts between Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎ and the bases of Syrian and Iraqi volunteers in Ein Kerem עין כרם‎.
On March 30, Mordechai Gihon reported that "150 men, mostly Iraqis, entered Deir Yassin."
Mordechai Gihon was supposedly quoted as recalling that his commanders in the Haganah הגנה told him there was an agreement between the Haganah הגנה and ITzL אצ"ל and Lehi לח"י regarding the attack on Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎, with the Haganah הגנה responsible for blocking the way between Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎ and Ein Kerem עין כרם‎ in case enemy forces sought to reach the town.
His commanders instructed Gihon to set up a Spandau machine gun on the nearby Sharafa ridge, today is known as Har Herzl הר הרצל, to control the pass by gunfire.
On the night of Thursday, April 8, Mordechai Gihon and a comrade slept in Givat Shaul גבעת שאול‎, in order to reach their assigned position by dawn on April 9.
Mordechai Gichon provided cover fire, watched for foreign troop movements, and observed the battle until 8:30AM.
On the Sharafa ridge, Mordechai Gihon watched as Arab fighters and civilians fled from Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎, and as Arab reinforcements from Ein Kerem עין כרם‎ and Malcha began advancing toward the town from the south.
Mordechai Gihon cites: "We fired bursts from the Spandau machine-gun onto the road. We hit Arabs fleeing from Deir Yassin and we blocked their way. We prevented the advance of the reinforcements, and we also might have hit some IZL men who entered our line of fire. At about 8:30 a.m. we returned to Givat Shaul."
Haganah men nearby sprayed gunfire in the same direction, to prevent the reinforcements from advancing.
On the afternoon of April 9, Mordechai Gichon was sent to Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎ on Shaltiel’s instructions cites: “I didn’t count the bodies. I estimated four ditches full of bodies, twenty in each, and a few dozen more in the quarry. I threw out a figure: 150.”,
Mordechai Gichon, who were acquainted with Meir Pa’il at the time, cites that he did not see him at Deir Yassin دير ياسين‎.