On the Jerusalem front, a military police company, under orders from Moshe Dayan and the command of Capt. Ze'ev Katz, was responsible for rationing the sparse food and supplies between the besieged population. The company, whose authority had been expanded to include gendarmerie duties due to a lack of civilian police in the besieged city, also dealt with deserter location and crowd dispersal. On June 26, 1948, a mass Haredi rally against doing activities prohibited on Shabbat as part of warfare, was dispersed with nightsticks and live weaponry.