 The Battles of Latrun were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Jordanian Arab Legion on the outskirts of Latrun between 25 May and 18 July 1948 , during the 1948 Arab – Israeli War . Latrun takes its name from the monastery close to the junction of two major highways : Jerusalem to Jaffa / Tel Aviv and Gaza to Ramallah . During the British Mandate it became a Palestine Police base with a <unk> fort . The United Nations Resolution 181 placed this area within the proposed Arab state . In May 1948 , it was under the control of the Arab Legion . It commanded the only road linking the Yishuv @-@ controlled area of Jerusalem to Israel , giving Latrun strategic importance in the battle for Jerusalem . 
