Castel National Park ( he, גן לאומי קסטל) is an Israeli

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

, which consists of a fortified summit in the

Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...

, at the site of the former

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of

Al-Qastal Al-Qastal ("Kastel", ar, القسطل) was a Palestinian village located eight kilometers west of Jerusalem and named for a Crusader castle located on the hilltop. Used in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli War as a military base by the Army of the ...

, known to Hebrew-speakers as HaCástel, "the Cástel". It is located 8 km west of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

on the road linking it to Tel Aviv ( Highway 1). The site is mostly known as the place of the key battles of

Operation Nachshon Operation Nachshon ( he, מבצע נחשון, ''Mivtza Nahshon'') was a Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–16 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road ...

, which were fought there in April 1948 during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

. Fierce battles that claimed many lives took place there as Arabs and Jews fought for control of the site, which overlooked the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. Castel exchanged hands several times in the course of the fighting. The tides turned when the revered Arab commander,

Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni ( ar, عبد القادر الحسيني), also spelled Abd al-Qader al-Husseini (1907 – 8 April 1948) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and fighter who in late 1933 founded the secret militant group known as the Orga ...

, was killed. Many of the Arabs left their positions to attend al-Husayni's funeral at the

Al-Aqsa Mosque Al-Aqsa Mosque (, ), also known as Jami' Al-Aqsa () or as the Qibli Mosque ( ar, المصلى القبلي, translit=al-Muṣallā al-Qiblī, label=none), and also is a congregational mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situate ...

on Friday, April 9. That same day, Castel fell to the Israeli forces virtually unopposed.Institute of Jerusalem Studies
The national park includes a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

for the Israeli soldiers who died there, including a monument designed in 1980 by

Yitzhak Yamin Yitzhak Yamin ( he, יצחק ימין; born 1938 – 21 March 2020) was an Iraqi-born Israeli painter and sculptor. Biography Yitzhak Yamin was born in Iraq. In 1951, he immigrated to Israel and lived with his parents and eleven brothers and si ...

and a memorial to the convoys that tried to break through the blockade of Jerusalem.

History

Roman period

Due to its strategic location, settlement in the area go back to antiquity. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

built a fortress there, known simply as ''Castellum'' to ensure their control of the road to Jerusalem.

Crusader period

The

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

built over the ruins of the Roman fortress a castle mentioned in chronicles as ''Castellum Belveer'', of which no traces have been found.

Ottoman period

After the fall of the Crusaders, Castel disappeared from historical sources for centuries. Eventually, an Arab village grew up around this spot. The muhktar's house was built on the hilltop, on the ruins of the Crusader castle.

British Mandate

During the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

, the British referred to this district as "The Castle".

1947-1948 war

In 1947, the Arab siege on Jerusalem led to severe water and food rationing. With the population on the verge of starvation, supply vehicles began travelling the road in convoys accompanied by guards. Buses and trucks were covered with steel plates surrounding a wooden board which made them heavy and cumbersome. Their slow ascent to Jerusalem made them a perfect target. When the Arabs of al-Qastal saw a convoy approaching they would place a boulder across the narrow road and hide among the trees. When the driver stopped to clear the road, they lobbed explosives and massacred everyone in sight.Battle for the Jerusalem Highway
''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' By April 1, 1948, when Jerusalem had run out of water and the population was reduced to eating plants, the Palmach launched

. The commandos found the village nearly empty and met with little resistance. When word of the Castel's fall reached Arab leaders, they ordered revered commander

to take it back. Thousands answered his call to arms. Equipped with knives, clubs, rifles, guns and explosives, they ascended the hill in waves, and attacked for five days. The Jewish defenders ran out of food and ammunition, and reinforcements failed to arrive. On April 8, two guards spotted three unidentified figures walking up the slopes and opened fire on them. Two fled, but one of them, who turned out to be al-Huysani, was killed. An hour later, a soldier listening to Arabic radio broadcasts heard a phrase repeated over and over: "The bird fell in the cage." The "bird" was a code word for al-Huysani. Masses of Arabs rushed to the slopes of the Castel and opened fire on three fronts. Many of the Jewish fighters were killed, and the Castel was recaptured. The next day, Palmah commandos returned at dawn and found only a few people left on the hill. The Arabs had recovered al-Huysani's body and gone to bury him.

Memorial

The Jewish village of Maoz Zion ("Stronghold of Zion") was established there in 1951 at the foot of Castel Hill. Today the entire hill with the fortress ruins and

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from eros ...

es is a

site. The site contains many bronze plaques which describe the course of the fighting in April 1948.

References

External links

at the Israeli Parks Authority site (valid as of 25.04.2018) {{authority control National parks of Israel Protected areas of Jerusalem District Buildings and structures in Jerusalem District