246:
685:–Rafah road and by 14:00 on January 4 had taken a number of outlying positions in the Sinai Peninsula just across the border. At 11:00 on January 5, they attacked the junction's southern position, but failed to take it. The brigade's 5th Battalion attacked at night and managed to take over both positions overlooking the junction by 02:00 on January 6. However, the Egyptians counterattacked during a sandstorm and retook the junction, surprising the Israelis, who retreated with 10 missing. An 8th Brigade reserve was brought from
229:
217:
160:
204:
193:
181:
145:
50:
696:, captured an area further west and dug in, effectively surrounding the remaining Egyptian forces in Palestine, as envisioned by the Israeli command. An Egyptian supply convoy and a counterattack were stopped in this area on January 7. The Egyptians lost 8 tanks and armored vehicles in the counterattack. At the night of January 7–8, Israeli forces bombed the
253:
677:
On
January 5, Golani moved west and took another position closer to the junction, which was still in Egyptian hands. Israeli ships and aircraft bombarded the Egyptian forces, inflicting a large number of casualties, mostly civilian; the Egyptians sought to block a mass flight to mainland Egypt, which
703:
The final and decisive attack was planned for
January 8, but the sandstorm caused the Israelis to set it off for another 24 hours. By this time, the Egyptian political echelon had agreed to negotiate armistice with the Israelis, on the condition that Israel withdraws its forces. The Southern Command
540:
staging diversions. While the
Israelis had great trouble to advance in their individual assaults, eventually a battalion-sized force managed to take a position on the road from Rafah to the Sinai Peninsula, effectively surrounding the Egyptian expeditionary force. However, by this time the Egyptians
607:
The Arab village Rafah was located on the border of
Palestine and Egypt. To the south, there was a sand dune, followed by the coastal road and railway, followed by another sand dune, containing a Bedouin cemetery at the top (about 100 m above sea level). In the plateau between the dunes, the
656:
from the
Israeli artillery, which also caused the Egyptians to notice them and fire their own artillery. The Golani company then retreated. The second assault, this time involving armored units, was repelled by the Egyptians who had reinforced the position with anti-tank weapons in the meantime.
669:
and on Hill 86. Five tanks were destroyed by Golani, and the
Egyptians retreated. In the second counterattack (at 11:00), the Israelis destroyed four additional tanks. The third counterattack was mostly made up of infantry and armored vehicles with flamethrowers. By this time, most of Golani's
660:
The cemetery position had been captured by
Israeli forces at 00:30 on January 4. The forces achieved complete surprise and were only discovered about 50 m away from the inner defensive perimeter, which they were able to penetrate and overwhelm the Egyptians in a matter of minutes, taking
708:
agreed. The ceasefire was officially declared on
January 7 at 14:00, although final skirmishes were fought into the night. In light of that, the Israeli forces in the Harel Brigade's position (including reinforcements from the 8th Brigade) withdrew on January 9–10.
301:
647:
at 18:00 on
January 3. A company was allocated to take each Hill 102 and the cemetery position. A special emphasis was placed on the transport of munitions and reinforcements, following the earlier debacle at the
977:
661:
prisoners. The
Egyptians counterattacked against the cemetery position several times, but could not dislodge the Golani forces. The first counterattack included 9 tanks, the remnants of the
541:
agreed to negotiate armistice and the Israeli political echelon therefore ordered all troops back. The battle of Rafah was the last major combat operation in the war and was followed by the
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287:
632:
brigades were also meat to assist in the operation as diversionary and reserve forces, respectively. The Egyptian forces in the area consisted of a reinforced brigade with
1007:
600:. Due to international pressure however, Allon's forces retreated from the Sinai and prepared instead to encircle the Egyptians by capturing the positions south of
1002:
725:
between Israel and Egypt, and the front lines at the end of the battle roughly corresponded to the armistice boundaries, except the cemetery position and the
245:
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to stop any possibility of supply for the encircled Egyptians. One mine they laid destroyed an Egyptian train carrying hundreds of wounded to al-Arish.
266:
413:
652:. The attack on Hill 102 failed, as did two subsequent attacks. As the Golani forces approached the hill on the first attack, they were hit by
616:
The Israel plan—the second stage of Operation Horev—was to take a number of position south of Rafah, just south of Rafah's military case. The
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914:
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On December 22, 1948, the Israelis launched Operation Horev, with the objective of expelling all Egyptian forces from Palestine. The Israeli
992:
554:
403:
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hit one of the Egyptian armored vehicles, the latter retreated. At least 150 Egyptian soldiers were killed in their counterattacks.
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83:
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689:, which conducted an assault on the western position of the junction in the afternoon, but the attack was unsuccessful.
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just before. The Israelis were hoping to encircle all Egyptian forces in Palestine and drive them back to Egypt.
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the day before. The main Egyptian column moved up the coastal plain in the following days, stopping at
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would strike from the south and capture the junction on the Gaza–al-Arish road. The
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chief Yigal Allon was against accepting the terms, but on January 7 Prime Minister
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The battle surrounding Rafah signified the end of major combat engagements in the
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would attack from the east and take Hill 102 and the cemetery position, while the
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British built a large military base on both sides of the border in World War II.
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The Egyptian regular army invaded Israel on May 15, 1948, following Israel's
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931:(in Hebrew). Vol. First Years 1948–1961. Carta Jerusalem.
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On the night of January 6–7, the 4th Battalion (Harel), under
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and most of their forces concentrated in what is today the
505:. It was fought on January 3–8, 1949, just south of
978:
Battles and operations of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
643:Golani forces from the 12th Battalion left kibbutz
670:weapons were either destroyed or jammed. After a
532:brigades were allocated for the attack, with the
513:. The battle was initiated by Israel as part of
34:
678:would hurt morale among the population there.
592:, planned to encircle the Egyptians from the
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8:
27:Military engagement between Israel and Egypt
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681:In the meantime, Harel forces moved up the
536:serving as the operational reserve and the
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998:Rafah in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
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596:Peninsula, without the knowledge of the
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493:was a military engagement between the
561:and establishing its headquarters in
7:
729:, which were handed over to Egypt.
721:. The battle paved the way for the
270:Location within Mandatory Palestine
1008:Egypt–State of Palestine relations
895:History of the War of Independence
25:
573:, the Egyptian staff withdrew to
907:1948: The First Arab–Israeli War
864:
803:
569:and other Israeli offensives in
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1003:Egypt–Israel military relations
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897:(in Hebrew). Modan Publishing.
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988:1949 in All-Palestine (Gaza)
565:. After the creation of the
993:January 1949 events in Asia
555:Declaration of Independence
1024:
927:, ed. (1978). "Security".
501:in the final stage of the
64:3 January – 8 January 1949
954:31.2258667°N 34.2174333°E
909:. Yale University Press.
723:1949 Armistice Agreements
665:battalion that fought in
517:, on the backdrop of the
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171:
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124:1949 Armistice Agreements
56:
47:
39:
983:Battles involving Egypt
929:Carta's Atlas of Israel
893:Lorch, Netanel (1998).
959:31.2258667; 34.2174333
172:Commanders and leaders
18:Battle of Rafah (1948)
719:1948 Arab–Israeli War
503:1948 Arab–Israeli War
495:Israel Defense Forces
313:1948 Arab–Israeli War
99:31.28861°N 34.25194°E
42:1948 Arab–Israeli War
543:armistice agreements
372:Death to the Invader
267:class=notpageimage|
950: /
404:Separation Corridor
95: /
234:Ibrahim Abdel Hady
104:31.28861; 34.25194
916:978-0-300-15112-1
727:Beit Hanoun wedge
650:Battle of Hill 86
567:Beit Hanoun wedge
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16:(Redirected from
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706:David Ben-Gurion
586:Southern Command
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698:coastal railway
667:Operation Assaf
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509:, today in the
491:Battle of Rafah
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366:Be'erot Yitzhak
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942:31°13′33.12″N
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903:Morris, Benny
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654:friendly fire
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622:Harel Brigade
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598:General Staff
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538:Negev Brigade
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527:
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519:Sinai battles
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499:Egyptian Army
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414:Naval battles
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337:Yad Mordechai
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119:Inconclusive
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945:34°13′2.76″E
935:
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877:Lorch (1998)
872:
846:Lorch (1998)
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834:Lorch (1998)
819:Lorch (1998)
758:Lorch (1998)
753:
741:
716:
702:
694:David Elazar
691:
680:
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615:
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545:with Egypt.
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198:David Elazar
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136:Belligerents
118:
40:Part of the
29:
957: /
634:25 pounders
590:Yigal Allon
534:8th Brigade
454:Bir Thamila
399:Beit Hanoun
209:Yigal Allon
102: /
972:Categories
887:References
663:M22 Locust
638:M22 Locust
579:Gaza Strip
549:Background
511:Gaza Strip
327:Kfar Darom
90:34°15′07″E
87:31°17′19″N
713:Aftermath
409:Beersheba
78:Palestine
905:(2008).
879:, p. 628
867:, p. 369
848:, p. 627
836:, p. 625
821:, p. 624
806:, p. 368
760:, p. 623
588:, under
497:and the
354:Nitzanim
222:Farouk I
69:Location
791:, p. 65
748:, p. 29
640:tanks.
636:and 20
449:Hill 86
348:Pleshet
913:
687:Gvulot
612:Battle
563:Majdal
526:Golani
422:Shmone
360:An-Far
151:Israel
148:
115:Result
733:Notes
683:'Auja
645:Nirim
626:Negev
602:Rafah
594:Sinai
559:Isdud
530:Harel
507:Rafah
469:Rafah
464:Sinai
459:'Auja
443:Horev
436:Assaf
342:Negba
332:Nirim
165:Egypt
74:Rafah
911:ISBN
672:PIAT
628:and
575:Gaza
528:and
524:The
489:The
477:Uvda
393:Yoav
386:Avak
61:Date
630:8th
429:Lot
379:GYS
974::
853:^
826:^
811:^
796:^
765:^
604:.
581:.
76:,
919:.
303:e
296:t
289:v
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
