led by 'Palmach' (considered the “tip of the spear” during the war and in the establishment of the IDF) during 'Operation Danny' which ultimate goal during the Arab-Israeli War was to gain control of the road to Jerusalem. Kenneth Bilby was in the city at the time. He wrote: "[The Israeli jeep column] raced into Lydda with rifles, Stens, and sub-machine guns blazing. It coursed through the main streets, blasting at everything that moved ... the corpses of Arab men, women, and even children were strewn about the streets in the wake of this ruthlessly brilliant charge." The raid lasted 47 minutes, leaving 100–150 Palestinian Arabs dead, according to Moshe Dayan's 89th Battalion. Yoav Gelber describes what followed as probably the bloodiest massacre of the war. Moshe Kelman ordered troops to shoot at any clear target, including at anyone seen on the streets. Israeli soldiers threw grenades into houses they suspected snipers were hiding in. Residents who ran out of their homes in panic were shot. Yeruham Cohen, an IDF intelligence officer, said around 250 died between 11:30 and 14:00 hrs. In 2013, testimony provided to Zochrot, Yerachmiel Kahanovich, a Palmach soldier present on the scene, stated he himself, amid the shelling of a mosque, had fired a PIAT anti-tank missile with enormous shock wave impact inside the mosque where Palestinians were taking refuge in, and on examining it afterwards found the walls scattered with the remains of people. He also stated that anyone straying from the flight trail was shot dead. This event was also confirmed by Binyamin Roski who was also a Palmach soldier from the Yiftach Brigade. According to Morris, dozens died in the mosque, including unarmed men, women and children; an eyewitness published a memoir in 1998 saying he had removed 95 bodies from one of the mosques. Dr. Klaus Dreyer of the IDF Medical Corps complained on 15 July (3 days later) that there were still corpses lying in and around Lydda, which constituted a health hazard and a "moral and aesthetic issue."