Holy Jihad force (Kata’eb al-Jihad al-Muqaddas) was established by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni as the Army of the Holy War during the 1936–39 Arab revolt and during the 1948 war. It consisting of young Arabs from villages in the Jerusalem area. They waged a number of battles against both the British Mandatory forces. In November 1947, when the UN approved the Palestine partition plan, Husseini, the mufti and a large number of Palestinian leaders were in Cairo. During this period, young Palestinians and other Arabs gathered around him and formed the core of the Holy Jihad army, which he now reestablished ahead of the looming war. Three weeks after the passage of the UN partition resolution on November 29, 1947, Husseini returned to Palestine. Positioning himself in the village of Tsurif, south of Jerusalem, he fought quite effectively .
After his forces failed, he improved his methods of attacking Jewish supply convoys and cutting off Jewish communities. The successes the Holy Jihad troops continued into March 1948. Time and again they surprised the Haganah with their ability to recruit a large, deadly force with great speed. An additional success was their blockage of the Nebi Daniel convoy, which had brought supplies to the Etzion Bloc but was attacked Jerusalem on March 27. 15 Jewish fighters were killed in the battle, and Hussein’s forces seized Haganah armored vehicles and a large quantity of arms .
