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Mc Mahon's second letter dated 24 October 1915 is crucial. It states that:

The districts of Mersin and Alexandretta, and portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo, cannot be said to be purely Arab, and must on that account be excepted from the proposed delimitation. Subject to that modification, and without prejudice to the treaties concluded between us and certain Arab Chiefs, we accept that delimitation. As for the regions lying within the proposed frontiers, in which Great Britain is free to act without detriment to interests of her ally France, I am authorized to give you the following pledges on behalf of the Government of Great Britain, and to reply as follows to you note: That subject to the modifications stated above, Great Britain is prepared to recognize and uphold the independence of the Arabs in all the regions lying within the frontiers proposed by the Sharif of Mecca.

McMahon's promises are seen by Arab nationalists as a pledge of immediate Arab independence. They also believe that the undertaking was violated by the region's subsequent partition into British and French League of Nations mandates under the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of May 1916.

There is debate exactly what the status of Palestine was as part of the agreement. McMahon later claimed it was excluded from the discussions. Britain later promised to favour the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine in the Balfour Declaration of November 1917.

Source of the letter: "A history of the Middle East" - Peter Mansfield. p.154, second edition