Al-Qastal, Jerusalem

Castel National Park (Hebrew: גן לאומי קסטל) is an Israeli national park, which consists of a fortified summit in the Judean Mountains, at the site of the former Palestinian village of Al-Qastal, known to Hebrew-speakers as HaCástel, "the Cástel". It is located 8 km west of Jerusalem on the road linking it to Tel Aviv (Highway 1). The site is mostly known as the place of the key battles of Operation Nachshon, which were fought there in April 1948 during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Fierce battles that claimed many lives took place there as Arabs and Jews fought for control of the site, which overlooked the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. Castel exchanged hands several times in the course of the fighting. The tides turned when the revered Arab commander, Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, was killed. Many of the Arabs left their positions to attend al-Husayni's funeral at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, April 9. That same day, Castel fell to the Israeli forces virtually unopposed.The national park includes a memorial for the Israeli soldiers who died there, including a monument designed in 1980 by Yitzhak Yamin and a memorial to the convoys that tried to break through the blockade of Jerusalem.

The Har'el interchange was an interchange that connected Highway 1 and Road 3965 near the communities Mevaseret Zion and Motza Illit. The interchange was in the Diamond interchange type, whose bridge is built on the secondary road route and passes over Highway 1, where the traffic is continuous. The interchange opened to traffic in 1971, with the expansion project of Highway 1, which began in the late 1960s. The interchange is named after the Harel Brigade who fought in the area in the 1948 Palestine war.The interchange is located at a high point on Route 1 near the Qastal site. The interchange bridge is based on a concrete bow that supports the upper road surface. In 1995, the road from Mevaseret Zion to Motza Illit was expanded by a second bridge building. In 2010, the Israel National Planning and Building Council approved a plan to expand Highway 1. Two tunnels were built, about 850 meters each, under the Harel interchange. The estimated project was supposed to be in 2015, but its inauguration was postponed to the beginning of 2017. The inauguration of the tunnel was on January 20, 2017.

Mevaseret Zion (Hebrew: מבשרת ציון, lit. 'Herald of Zion') is a town and local council located 10 km (6 mi) to the west of Jerusalem, straddling both sides of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim, under the jurisdiction of one local council. The newer neighborhoods of Mevaseret Zion were not part of either settlement. Mevaseret Zion is located on a mountain ridge 750 m (2,460 ft) above sea level, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. In 2021 it had a population of 24,409, spread over 15 neighborhoods. It is the wealthiest municipality per capita in the Jerusalem District. Mevaseret Zion's current mayor is Yoram Shimon.

Motza Illit (Hebrew: מוֹצָא עִלִּית, מוצא עילית, lit. 'Upper Motza') is a community settlement in central Israel. Located on a picturesque slope overlooking the Jerusalem Mountains, Ein Karem, the Motza Valley and Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,524 residents.

Ein Hemed is a national park and nature reserve in the hills seven kilometres west of modern Jerusalem and some 12 kilometres west of the Old City. It is also known by the Latin name it received from the Crusaders, Aqua Bella, and as Khirbat Iqbalā in Arabic. The park is located on the path of an old Roman road, also used in later periods. The road connected the coastal plain with Jerusalem, passing through Bab al-Wad. A fortified Hospitaller building from the Crusader period, relatively well preserved, is arguably the main attraction beside the streams and lush vegetation.

Qalunya (Arabic: قالونيا, also transliterated Qaluniya) was a Palestinian village located 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) west of Jerusalem. Prior to the village's destruction in 1948, with the exception of 166 dunams, Qalunya's land was privately owned: 3,594 dunams were owned by Arabs, while 1,084 dunams were owned by Jews.

The Book of Joshua lists almost 400 ancient Levantine city names (including alternative names and derivatives in the form of words describing citizens of a town) which refer to over 300 distinct locations in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Each of those cities, with minor exceptions (e.g. Hamath, Gubla) is placed in one of the 12 regions, according to the tribes of Israel and in most cases additional details like neighbouring towns or geographical landmarks are provided. It has been serving as one of the primary sources for identifying and locating a number of Middle Bronze to Iron Age Levantine cities mentioned in ancient Egyptian and Canaanite documents, most notably in the Amarna correspondence.

Bayt Naqquba (Arabic: بيت نقّوبة, Hebrew: בית נקובא, also spelled Bait Naqquba) was a Palestinian village in British Mandate Palestine, located 9.5 kilometers west of Jerusalem, near Abu Ghosh. Before Palmach and Haganah troops occupied the village during Operation Nachshon on April 11, 1948, approximately 300 Palestinian Arabs lived there. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, a moshav named Beit Nekofa was founded close to the site by Jewish immigrants from Yugoslavia. In 1962, residents of Bayt Naqubba built a new village named Ein Naqquba, south of Beit Nekofa.

Ein Kerem Agricultural School (Hebrew: בית הספר החקלאי עין כרם, Beit HaSefer HaHakla'i Ein Kerem), also known as Ein Kerem Community Environmental School (Hebrew: בית הספר הקהילתי סביבתי עין כרם, Beit HaSefer HaKehilati Svivati Ein Kerem) is a school in central Israel. Located near Ein Kerem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 164.

Beit Zayit (Hebrew: בֵּית זַיִת, lit. 'House of Olives') is a moshav in Israel. Located just outside the Jerusalem municipal border to the west, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 1,655.Beit Zayit lies on the edge of the Jerusalem Forest and operates a public swimming pool. Nearby is a dam, built to collect winter flood waters and create the Beit Zayit Reservoir, meant to slow down the flow of the Soreq Stream and allow water to seep into the Western Mountain Aquifer, a task it seems not to fulfill properly (look here for the Hebrew article).

Beit Nekofa (Hebrew: בֵּית נְקוֹפָה) is a moshav in the Jerusalem District of Israel. Located in the Jerusalem Corridor, about 10 km west of central Jerusalem, next to Highway 1 and the Hemed Interchange, between Mevaseret Zion and Kiryat Ye'arim, south of Kiryat Anavim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 758.

Suba (Arabic: صوبا) was a Palestinian Arab village west of Jerusalem that was depopulated and destroyed in 1948. The site of the village lies on the summit of a conical hill called Tel Tzova (Hebrew: תל צובה), or Jabal Suba, rising 769 meters above sea level, and it was built on the ruins of a Crusader castle.