The “Home Guard” was part of the Haganah’s local defense formations and was not an independent field brigade. Studies published by the Institute for Palestine Studies indicate that when the Haganah was reorganized in late 1947, its forces were divided broadly between the “army,” which included the Palmach and field forces and dealt mainly with external military threats, and the “guard,” which included local defense formations responsible primarily for local security and the protection of settlements, towns, and positions under Zionist control.
As the fighting expanded in 1948, Home Guard units were not limited to local defensive duties. Some were also used in offensive operations and in the occupation of Palestinian villages. PalQuest documents the participation of Home Guard units in the encirclement and occupation of Ayn Karim in July 1948, alongside Irgun and Gadna forces. It also reports that Home Guard units participated in the attack that led to the reoccupation of al-Abbasiyya, Jaffa District, on 10 July 1948 during Operation Dani.
Accordingly, Gadna is best described as a Haganah youth military and auxiliary formation, while the Home Guard was a local defense and security formation within the Haganah system. Units from both formations also participated in military operations during the Nakba in 1948.
