On 22 April 1920, skirmishes took place

between British gendarmes based in the

frontier town of Baysan and hundreds of

armed tribesmen of the Ghazawiyya – one

of the biggest tribes in the region. Several

men were killed on both sides. The next

day, about two thousand tribesmen from

across the Jordan gathered forces and

attacked the Jewish colonies near Samakh

on the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee,

a few miles north of Baysan. The British

army apparently had military intelligence

about these raids and called for support.