Britain Still Has Hopes for a Truce, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, July 10, 1948.

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LONDON, July 9 (AP)-Britain still has hopes for a truce in Palestine, the Foreign Office said today.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain appealed twice in the past 24 hours to Arab states to extend the four-week truce which expired this morning.

“Britain does not accept the view that the cease fire has irretrievably broken down,” the spokesman said.

He added that Britain would oppose “drastic action” by the Security Council against the Arab states “until all hope for an extension of the four-week truce is given up.”

Britain has “taken note” of reports King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan is trying to persuade Arabs to accept a truce extension, he said

Minister of State Hector McNeil told Commons Britain will inform the United Nations Security Council of the recent kidnapping of five Britons in Jerusalem. He did not make clear whether this would be a formal protest.

The Foreign Office has blamed Irgun Zvai Leumi, extremist Jewish organization, for the abductions. The Britons, employees of the Jerusalem Electric Corporation, were seized Tuesday night in a building flying a U. N. truce flag. McNeil said he has information that the men have not been harmed.