 Complete the following phrase:  Lydda Arabic: Al-Ludd اللد dates back to at least 56005250 BCE. Ramle ar-Ramlah الرملة, three kilometers away, was founded in the 8th century CE. Both towns were strategically important because they sat at the intersection of Palestines main northsouth and eastwest roads. Palestines main railway junction and its airport now Ben Gurion International Airport were in Lydda, and the main source of Jerusalems water supply was 15 kilometers away. Jewish and Arab fighters had been attacking each other on roads near the towns since hostilities broke out in December 1947. Israeli geographer Arnon Golan writes that Palestinian Arabs had 