Jerusalem Siege- 1948 the war on the road- "Bab el Wad"

A convoy from Tel Aviv arriving Jerusalem

Arab blocking the only road to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv

On the only road that led to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv the Arabs started attacks on the transportation on their way with supplies, food, water, gasoline, and weapons that were sent to protect and help the city that was under siege. The supply convoys would go in big groups to Jerusalem to bring the supplies, that way they could protect each other and help. Palmach soldiers joined this groups to protect the people. They had to hide their weapons from the British, who would take the weapons away if thay found them. 245 convoys managed to get to Jerusalem with 10,000 tons of supplies. One of the main operations on the way to Jerusalem was “Operation Nachshon” which was lead by Simon Avidan (שמעון אבידן ). It began on the night of April 2, 1948. The name "Operation Nachshon" was derived from the biblical personage Nachshon Ben Aminadav who was the first to jump into the Red Sea when the Jews fled Egypt.
It was the first major Haganah operation and it was the first time that a "brigade force" was employed numbering 1,500 men, a large amount of people for this operation. They were armed with Czech weapons that had been smuggled into the country on April 1st at a hidden airstrip in the south.
Even today, as you make your way up to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, you can see on the roadside, the remains of the armored vehicles that never made it to Jerusalem during the siege of 1948. These reminders show us the bravery and courage of the warriors that went to rescue Jerusalem. When you see those rusting wrecks, you can’t be more proud of your nation, your home, and your people.

BAB EL WAD

Here I pass, standing by the stone.
An asphalt road, rocks and ridges.
Evening comes slowly, a sea-wind blows
Light of a first star, over Beit Ma'hsir.

Bab-el-wad (refrain),
Remember our names forever,
Convoys broke through, on the road to the City.
Our dead lie at the sides of the road
The iron skeleton is as silent as my comrade.

Here tar and lead fumed under the sun,
Here nights passed in fire and knives.
Here sadness and glory live together
With a burnt-out armored car and the name of an unknown.

Bab-el-wad ... (refrain)

And I walk, passing here silently,
And I remember them, one by one.
Here we fought together on cliffs and boulders
Here we were one family.

Bab-el-wad ... (refrain)

A spring day will come, the cyclamens will bloom,
Red of anemone on the mountain and on the slope.
He, who will go on the road we went,
He must not forget us, Bab-el-wad.

Carmeli Brigade in the war of independence 1948

2nd Brigade - Carmeli

The Carmeli Brigade was formed by David Ben-Gurion in February 1948 to be one of nine elite fighting units, known as the Palmach. The Carmeli Brigade was initially responsible for operations in Haifa and western Galilee. Two months later, the Carmeli Brigade engaged in fierce fighting with several waves of Arab Druze forces, but succeeded in repelling the assault on the city of Haifa and then moved on to capture Arab positions in Acre. In late May and early June of 1948, the Carmeli Brigade faced Iraqi forces battling for the city of Jenin and although Israeli forces captured to town, they soon had to withdraw from it due to ineffective defenses. Throughout the Israeli war for independence, the Carmeli Brigade served as one of the primary units in the Israeli army.

IDF 1948 The creation of the state of Israel

Arab countries and forces invading Palestine 1948

The Jordanian Arab Legion

Arab Liberation Army ( A.L.A ) roll in 1948 war

The Arab Liberation Army (Jaysh al-Inqadh al-Arabi) was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji. It fought on the Arab side in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and was set up by the Arab League as a counter to the Arab High Committee's Holy War Army, though in fact the League and Arab governments prevented thousands from joining either force.

At the meeting in Damascus on 5 February 1948 to organize Palestinian Field Commands, Northern Palestine including Samaria was allocated to Qawuqji's forces, although Samaria was de facto already under the control of Transjordan .

The target figure for recruitment was 10,000, but by mid-March 1948 the number of volunteers to have joined the Army reached around 6,000 and did not increase much beyond this figure. The actual number deployed might have been as low as 3,500, according to General Safwat. Its ranks included Syrians, Lebanese, including a few hundred Druze and Circassians, Iraqis, Transjordanians, Muslim Brothers from Egypt and Palestinians trained in Syria. There were also a few Yugoslavs, Germans, Turks and British deserters.

The first contingents of the Arab Liberation Army reached Palestine in January 1948. Between February and May, they suffered a string of defeats in northern Palestine. Between May and October, the Arab Liberation Army controlled parts of western Galilee but by October were completely defeated by Israel's forces.