The Battle of Castel (Operation Nachshon) in April 1948 during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. 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. The Castel exchanged hands several times in the course of the fighting. The tides turned when the revered Arab commander, Abd al-Qadir al-Husseini, was killed. Many of the Arabs left their positions to attend al-Husaini's funeral at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, April 9. That same day, the Castel fell to the Israeli forces, virtually unopposed.