page_title: Stalemate in Southern Palestine
section_title: Buqqar Ridge attack on 27 October
hierarchical_section_title: Stalemate in Southern Palestine / EEF operations, July to October / Mounted operations / Buqqar Ridge attack on 27 October
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Karm and el Buqqar defensive line Other information British Army map with Creative Commons 3.0 license regarding white line. Detail of File:Karm&amp;el–buggar 1.jpg.
context_page_description: The Stalemate in Southern Palestine was a six month standoff between the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force and the Ottoman Army in World War I. The two hostile forces faced each other along the Gaza to Beersheba line during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, with neither side able to force its opponent to withdraw. The stalemate began in April 1917 with the defeat of the EEF by the Ottoman Army at the Second Battle of Gaza and lasted until the EEF offensive began with the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917.
  Previous to the stalemate, units of the Ottoman Fourth Army had been forced out of the Sinai Peninsula by a series of EEF victories: the Battle of Romani in August 1916, the Battle of Magdhaba in December and the Battle of Rafa in January 1917. The EEF followed up those victories by making two unsuccessful attempts to capture Gaza: the First Battle of Gaza in March, and the Second Battle of Gaza in April. These two Ottoman victories halted the attempted EEF invasion of southern Palestine, leading to the stalemate.
context_section_description: General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Commander of the Yildirim Army Group, planned a two phase attack, beginning with a reconnaissance in force from Beersheba, for 27 October. This was to be followed by an attack, on the morning of 31 October 1917, by the Eighth Army from Hareira.
  The reconnaissance in force was made by 3,000 Ottoman infantry, 1,200 cavalry, and twelve guns, which advanced from the Kauwukah defences in front of Tel esh Sheria, to attack the EEF outpost line. The headquarters of the Ottoman force defending the Gaza-Beersheba line was located at Sheria till June. In July it moved to Huj. They were the 125th Infantry Regiment (16th Division) from Tel esh Sheria and troops of the 3rd Cavalry Division from Beersheba, commanded by Ismet Bey, and including an infantry regiment from the 27th Division, and the 125th Field Artillery Battery.
  The Ottoman attackers met "stubborn defence" by the Middlesex Yeomanry. Yeomanry troops and squadrons, from the 8th Mounted Brigade defending the line, were attacked in the early morning. While the defenders on Point 630 at El Girheir were able to maintain their position until reinforced by an infantry battalion in the afternoon, the yeomanry defending Point 720 were over-run by Ottoman cavalry, killing 14 troopers during the late morning, before they could be reinforced by units of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade and the 53rd (Welsh) Division.
caption: Detail of the el Girheir (Point 630) to El Buqqar defensive line including Point 720
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