Abdel-Kader al-Husseini (1907-8 April 1948), also known as Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, was the commander of the Army of the Holy War of Palestine during the Palestinian Civil War. He was killed in Operation Nachshon at Kastel (al-Qastal) by the Israelis.
Biography[]
Abdel-Kader al-Husseini was born in Jerusalem in the Ottoman Empire in 1907 in present-day Israel. Abdel-Kader was the nephew of Haj Amin al-Husseini, commonly known simply as "the Mufti". He graduated in chemistry from the American University in Cairo and took a post in the settlement department of Mandatory Palestine, ruled by the United Kingdom. al-Husseini later joined the Palestinian rebels during the Palestinian Revolt of 1936-37 and fled to Iraq after the revolt was crushed by Orde Wingate, and he moved to Egypt in 1946. He returned to Palestine in 1948 to aid in the struggle against Israel as the commander of the Army of the Holy War, and he led 1,000 Arab troops in a siege of the Etzion bloc. During Operation Nachshon he captured Kastel (al-Qastal) from Jewish control, but he made the mistake of believing that the village was entirely in Palestinian hands. He walked up to a Haganah machine gunner who was still at his post, believing him to be an Arab who had already captured the position from the Jews. However, he was wrong; he was gunned down in a hail of bullets.