Latrun
Thousands of years ago, the city of Gezer the Gezer area strategic during modern history.
During Israel's 1948 War for Independence, some of the fiercest fighting took place at a town called Latrun, just a few miles away from Gezer. Why was Latrun so strategic? It stood along the road connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem.
This road ran through a narrow corridor among Israel's foothills. When the Arabs gained control of Latrun, they blocked the corridor, forcing Israelis to build a detour route in order to send supplies to people in Jerusalem. Later, Israel regained control of the strategic city and a fort still stands there today.
Amazingly, the troops fighting around Gezer in 1948 were fighting for the exact same reason that people fought in the area during Bible times!
