Capture of Jericho

The Capture of Jericho occurred between 19 and 21 February 1918 to the east of <a href="/facts/Jerusalem/PKJ8LT0Y">Jerusalem</a> beginning the <a href="/facts/Occupation_of_the_Jordan_Valley/AnNelLhe">Occupation of the Jordan Valley</a> during the <a href="/facts/Sinai_and_Palestine_Campaign/sXxMkGFQ">Sinai and Palestine Campaign</a> of the <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a>. Fighting took place in an area bordered by the <a href="/facts/Bethlehem/2X2sxNCr">Bethlehem</a>–<a href="/facts/Nablus/MyIyTo8Y">Nablus</a> road in the west, the <a href="/facts/Jordan_River/dRFFQcxV">Jordan River</a> in the east, and north of a line from <a href="/facts/Jerusalem/PKJ8LT0Y">Jerusalem</a> to the <a href="/facts/Dead_Sea/X2hgGG0w">Dead Sea</a>. Here a <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British Empire</a> force attacked <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman</a> positions, forcing them back to <a href="/facts/Jericho/934P9FMl">Jericho</a> and eventually across the <a href="/facts/Jordan_River/dRFFQcxV">Jordan River</a>.
Winter rains put an end to campaigning after the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Mughar_Ridge/FBR9YrIQ">advance</a> from the <a href="/facts/Gaza_City/4mmNgFq6">Gaza</a>–<a href="/facts/Beersheba/dKXzMLaC">Beersheba</a> line to the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Jerusalem/84AkTVhk">capture of Jerusalem</a> in December 1917. This lull in the fighting offered the opportunity for the captured territories to be consolidated. Extensive developments were also required along the <a href="/facts/Lines_of_communication/tntJoI2f">lines of communication</a> to ensure that <a href="/facts/Front-line/gVpKWnSy">front-line</a> troops were adequately supplied, approximately 150 miles (240 km) from their main bases at Moascar and <a href="/facts/Al_Qantarah_El_Sharqiyya/RMs7Ky6R">Kantara</a> on the <a href="/facts/Suez_Canal/1zYoNryp">Suez Canal</a>.
General <a href="/facts/Edmund_Allenby%2c_1st_Viscount_Allenby/WTaRQ94M">Edmund Allenby</a>'s initial <a href="/facts/Strategic_planning/tTk7h0wx">strategic plans</a> focused on his <a href="/facts/Flanking_maneuver/QpkIXjLe">open right flank</a>. If attacked with sufficiently large forces, he could be outflanked by an attack from the east—unlike his left flank which rested securely on the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean Sea</a> to the west. His aim was to capture the territory east of Jerusalem stretching to the Dead Sea, where his right flank could be more secure. The area was garrisoned by Ottoman troops entrenched on hill-tops which the British infantry, <a href="/facts/Australian_light_horse/AaUHPFhN">Australian light horse</a> and <a href="/facts/New_Zealand_Mounted_Rifles_Brigade/afFWvyqh">New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigades</a> attacked. The infantry captured Talat ed Dumm on the main Jerusalem to Jericho road, while the light horse and mounted rifle brigades captured Jericho and the area to the south bordered by the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.

Capture of Jericho open-in-new

Capture of Jericho