Ignoring the provisions of the second truce, the
Egyptians denied Jewish convoys passage through the Hatta-Karatiya gap in
their line. In addition, they captured positions beyond the truce
demarcation lines and attacked several IDF posts that covered the pass.
Following an Egyptian raid on inter-kibbutz communications routes and the
firing on an Israeli convoy on October 15, the Israel Army and Air force
took the offensive and launched Operation “Yoav.” In seven days they
succeeded in opening the road to the Negev and capturing its capital,
Beersheba.
The goal of Operation “Yoav” was to open a corridor
to the Negev, cut the Egyptian lines of communications along the coast and
on the Beersheba-Hebron-Jerusalem road, isolate and defeat
the Egyptian forces, and ultimately to drive them out of the country.
Operation Yoav was headed by Southern Front commander Yigal Allon. The
force was comprised of three infantry brigades; “Negev," “Givati,” and
“Yiftach,” plus an armored battalion from the 8th Armored Brigade and
the largest artillery formation that had ever been available to the IDF. (The 'Oded' Brigade
joined the command on 18 October). On the eve of 15 October, Gaza, Majdal
and Beith Hanun were bombed, and part of the Air Force at El-Arish was
put out of action. This action kept most of the Egyptian frontline fighters
out of the skies and gave the IDF air superiority for the first time. The
commando battalion of the “Yiftach” Brigade mined the railway between
El-Arish and Rafah and various roads in the Rafah-Gaza area, and attacked
Egyptian installations and camps. At the same time, two battalions of
the “Givati”
Brigade forced a wedge southwards to the east of Iraq El-Manshiyeh, thus
cutting the road between Faluja and Beit Guvrin.
On the morning of 16 October, a tank battalion of the
8th Armored Brigade, along with an infantry battalion of the 'Negev'
Brigade, launched a major attack against El-Manshiyeh in an attempt to open
the corridor to the south-east. This attempt failed and the force sufferred
heavily. The following night, Givati units made a
breakthrough west of Faluja, fighting their key battles at Hill 113 and
nearby Egyptian strongholds known as the junction positions dominating the
crossroads between Majdal and Faluja. After fierce hand-to-hand battle,
Hills 113 and 100 were captured, and a day later the junction positions and
Kaukaba were taken.
Knowing that the Security Council was anxiously trying
to impose a cease-fire, Yigal Allon realized that he had little time to
open the Negev road. He tasked the “Givati” Brigade to attack
the formidable Huleiqat defense system south on 19-20 October which was
successful in capturing the complex and after bitter fighting the road to
the Negev was open. At 4:00 on the morning of 21 October, the IDF moved to
capture Beersheba. The force that moved on Beersheba consisted of major
elements of the 8th Brigade, the commando battalion and two other
battalions of the 'Negev' Brigade. While some units took up blocking
positions north and south of the town to hold up Egyptian reinforcements,
and another carried out a diversionary action in the direction of Hebron to the North. After fierce fighting, the
500-strong Egyptian garrison broke and, by 09:00 hrs that morning,
Beersheba - capital of the Negev had surrendered to Israeli forces. The
eastern part of the Egyptian Army was now cut into four isolated forces
with brigades in: Rafah-Gaza; Majdal;Faluja (in which a brigade under the
command of the Sudanese Brig. Gen. Taba Bey and whose operation officer
Maj. Gamal Abdal Nasser was surrounded with all its main supply lines cut
and two batallions in the region of Hebron-Jerusalem. The Israel Navy also took
part in these southern actions, shelling enemy coastal installations,
preventing supplies from reaching Gaza and Majdal by sea, and scoring an
outstanding victory on the very eve of the truce when its special unit sank
the Amir Faruq ("Emir Farouk"), flagship of the Egyptian navy,
off the shores of Gaza.
The Harel Brigade played a major role during Operation
Yoav. Mainly active in the mountainous area between the Jerusalem corridor
and Bet Guvrin, widened the approaches to Jerusalem and cut the Egyptian
artery from Bet Guvrin to Bethlehem. A truce was ordered for 15:00 hours on
22 October, but there was some action in the days immediately following.
The Police fort of Bet Guvrin fell on 27 October, and after the Egyptians
retreated southward from Ashdod (28 October) and Majdal (6 November) to
Gaza, IDF troops occupied the coastal strip down to Yad Mordechai. On 9
November, the Iraq Suedan fortress was finally captured, after Israeli
forces had failed to make it during previous attacks. Renamed Yoav Fortress
in honor of this operation, it is today the site of the Givati Museum.