Battle of Rafah (1949) 1949
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 3 January 1949 – 8 January 1949 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1949 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Egypt | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | 1948 Arab–Israeli War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 31.2259, 34.2174 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Rafah was a military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the final stage of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was fought on January 3–8, 1949, just south of Rafah, today in the Gaza Strip. The battle was initiated by Israel as part of Operation Horev, on the backdrop of the Sinai battles just before. The Israelis were hoping to encircle all Egyptian forces in Palestine and drive them back to Egypt.
The Golani and Harel brigades were allocated for the attack, with the 8th Brigade serving as the operational reserve and the Negev Brigade 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 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 armistice agreements with Egypt.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Rafah (1949) (revision 1370272615), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
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- Battles of the Kinarot Valley 1948
- Battles of Bir 'Asluj
All 14 battles of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War →
Browse more: battles in Egypt · Africa · Post-1945 battles