Metzudat Koach

The building is a Tegart fort[5] commissioned by the British and constructed by Solel Boneh, the fort was a key observation point on the Naftali heights, overlooking the Hula Valley, and used to monitor the Palestine/Lebanon border.

By mid-April 1948, the British army had evacuated most of Upper Galilee. A number of key points were subsequently occupied by Arab forces, including the police fort at Nabi Yusha. This fort commanded the main road to Upper Galilee and the routes to the Jewish settlements of Ramot Naftali and Manara. The Palmach understood that this observation point had a strategic importance for the safety and future of the kibbutzim below.

In the evening hours of April 15, the police station was attacked by a company composed of Golani, Palmach and irregulars from nearby Jewish settlements, which moved in two armored cars and two armored Egged buses. The attacking force was forced to withdraw due to intense fire. Four Jews were killed.

On April 20, a second attempt was made to occupy the fort by a force from the third Palmach battalion. A small force succeeded in breaking the barriers and reaching the wall, but two of its members were hit, which delayed the detonation of the explosives until their evacuation. During their evacuation, enemy fire was directed at them and many of the unit's soldiers were killed. The troops fought to the last man. Altogether, 22 Jews were killed in the battle.

During the night of May 16/17, a company of the third battalion of the Yiftach Brigade occupied the fort after driving away the enemy. On the next day, two of the soldiers were killed.

Yiftach Brigade at Nabi Yusha. 16th May 1948

In total, 28 Jewish soldiers fell in the battles for the occupation of the fort, and "Metzudat HaKoach" ("Fort of the 28") is today named after them.[6]

The 28 soldiers

A monument to the fallen in Metzudat Koach

Date	Name		Age	Rank	Birthplace[7]
20/04/48	Ahali	Joseph	20	Corporal	Gedera
20/04/48	Akerman	Amnon	19	Private	Haifa
20/04/48	Amikam	Boaz	19	Private, paramedic	Haifa
20/04/48	Armoni	Yizhar	18	Private	Jerusalem
20/4/48	Barzilai	Aryeh	19	Private	Lithuania
17/05/48	Ben Bassat	Meir	20	Private	Bulgaria, Plovdiv
13/05/48	Ben Nevet	Eliezer	21	Corporal	Turkey
20/02/48	Cherkasky[8]	David	22	Lieutenant, Platoon commander	Haifa
20/04/48	Cohen	Avraham	18	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Friedman	Philon[9]	18	Private	Poland
	Futerman	Eliezer	17
15/04/48	Gutman	Joseph	20	Private	Tel Aviv
20/04/48	Horowitz	Zvi	19	Private	Haifa
20/04/48	Kochba	Hanan	19	Private	Germany
22/04/48	Levinsky	Yisrael	19	Private	Poland
20/04/48	Mizrachi	Shlomo	19	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Moskowitz	Malachi	19	Private	Tel Aviv
20/04/48	Neeman	Moshe	19	Corporal	Tel Aviv
	Ohali	Yosef
20/04/48	Poterman	Eliezer	18	Corporal	Poland, Nova Korsha
20/04/48	Rauch	Mordechai	26	Private	Poland
20/02/24	Shevet	Eliezer	20	Private	Nahalal
20/02/24	Shwartz	David	26	Private	Czechoslovakia
15/04/48	Stashi	Moshe	18	Private	Bulgaria, Sofia
20/04/48	Tolitzinsky	Yuval	19	Private	Haifa
20/04/48	Wissotzky	Nehemia	20	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Yekutieli	Amnon	19	Corporal, Squad commander	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Yizraelowitz	Yitczhak	25	Private	Poland

view near Fort Koach down to the Hula valley

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metzudat Koach.

• The Koach Fortress by Peter Abelow