During the day about 300 prisoners were taken and many Turks killed. British casualties were light.
Next morning the advance was resumed. The Turks had withdrawn during the night, and the British forces driving back rear guards, occupied a line across the Nablus-Jerusalem road four miles north of Jerusalem, while other troops occupied a position east of Jerusalem across the Jericho road. These operations isolated Jerusalem, and at about noon the enemy sent out a parlementaire and surrendered the city.
At noon on December 11, 1917, General Allenby made his official entry into Jerusalem.
In the operations from October 31 to December 9, 1917, over 12,000 prisoners were taken. The captures of material included about 100 guns of various calibers, many machine guns, more than 20,000,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, and 250,000 rounds of gun ammunition. More than twenty aeroplanes were destroyed by British airmen or burned by the Turks to avoid capture.
This ended four centuries of Turkish rule over the Holy City of Jews and Christians. General Allenby, after his entry, issued the following noteworthy proclamation:
"To the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Blessed and the people dwelling in the vicinity. The defeat inflicted upon the Turks by the troops under my command has resulted in the occupation of your city by my forces. I therefore here and now proclaim it to be under martial law, under which form of administration it will remain so long as military considerations make it necessary. However, lest any of you should be alarmed by reason of your experience at the hands of the enemy who has retired, I hereby inform you that it is my desire that every person should pursue his lawful business without fear of interruption.
"Furthermore, since your city is regarded with affection by the adherents of three of the great religions of mankind, and its soil has been consecrated by the prayers and pilgrimages of multitudes of devout people of these three religions for many centuries, therefore do I make known to you that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer, of whatsoever form of the three religions, will be maintained and protected according to the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faiths they are sacred."
An eyewitness of the memorable event, the special correspondent of the London "Times" with the British forces describes it in part as follows:
"It was a picturesque throng. From the outskirts of Jerusalem the Jaffa road was crowded with people who flocked westward to greet the conquering general. Somber-clad youths of all nationalities, including Armenians and Greeks, stood side by side with Moslems dressed in the brighter raiment of the East. The predominence of the tarboosh in the streets added to the brightness of the scene. Many of the Moslems joined aloud in the expression of welcome, and their faces lighted up with pleasure at the general's approach.
"Flat-topped roofs and balconies held many, crying out a genuine welcome; but it was in the streets, where the cosmopolitan crowd assembled, that one looked for and obtained the real feeling of all the peoples. What astonished me were the cries of 'Bravo' and 'Hurrah' uttered by men who could have hardly spoken the words before....