israeli forces from the carmeli brigade first captured al-birwa and positions overlooking it on 11 june 1948 as part of operation ben-ami, a day before the first truce of the 1948 arab-israeli war. during the fighting, 45 elderly residents hid in the church with the priest. the defenders of the village surrendered after losing men and running out of ammunition. the residents took refuge in nearby villages for thirteen days. nevertheless, clashes continued during the truce. according to local militiamen from al-birwa, 96 men from the village armed with rifles, and an equal number of men armed with non-firearms and unarmed women assembled near the front lines of the arab liberation army (ala). the rifle-armed force charged first across the front lines, followed by the men armed with axes, shovels, and sticks, and then the women who carried water to assist the wounded. al-birwa's ad-hoc militia took the small force of haganah soldiers (who became part of the israel defense forces on 26 may) by surprise and forced them back a kilometer west of al-birwa. afterward, al-birwa's residents harvested their crops. they remained in the village until 24 june, when ala commanders suggested that they join their families in the nearby villages. the militiamen claimed that the ala stood by during the clashes because they did not receive orders from their superiors.