page_title: Battle of Ismailia
section_title: Prelude
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Ismailia / Prelude
caption_attribution_description: State of Israel Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, pictured during a defense meeting held at the Pentagon in Washington, District of Columbia (DC). (Released to Public) DoD photo by HELENE C. STIKKEL, CIV
context_page_description: The Battle of Ismailia took place between the Egyptian Army and the Israeli Defense Forces during the last stages of the Yom Kippur War during October 18–22, 1973, south of the city of Ismailia, on the west bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt. The battle itself took place as part of the larger IDF-launched Operation Abiray-Lev, in an attempt to seize Ismailia and thereby sever the logistical and supply lines of most of Egypt's Second Field Army across the Suez Canal.
  Breaking out of their newly established bridgehead west of the Canal at the northern end of the Great Bitter Lake, the IDF launched an offensive from Deversoir toward Ismailia. A combined force of Egyptian paratroopers and commandos fought a delaying battle, falling back upon defensive positions further north under increasing pressure from IDF infantry and armor. By October 22, they were occupying a last line of defense, including positions along the Ismailia canal. Though outnumbered, they repulsed a final Israeli effort to capture the city; a United Nations ceasefire was then imposed, bringing the battle to an end.
context_section_description: The west bank of the canal was lined with a series of ramparts up to 30 meters (98 ft) high, which the Egyptians referred to as "strong points". These were used during the opening days of the war to allow Egyptian forces to directly fire on the Israelis on the east bank. There were five strong points between the Great Bitter Lake and the Ismailia Canal, from north to south: a pumping station at Deversoir, the village of Serabaeum, Touscan, Heneidac and Jebel Mariam. The area was largely agricultural, intersected with dikes and irrigation ditches, although these did not present significant obstacles. There were several villages and numerous farms, especially orchards of mango and orange trees. The density of foliage made the terrain unsuitable for vehicles. The Israelis called it the "jungle" or "Vietnam". West of the Suez Canal, and running parallel to it, was the Sweetwater Canal, which distributed freshwater to the inhabitants of the canal zone and its cities. It branched from the Ismailia Canal, running east from the Nile River near Cairo to Lake Timsah at Ismailia. There were four bridges across the Ismailia Canal. The first was the Abu Gamus Bridge at Ismailia. Two bridges, one railroad and one vehicular, were located at the village of Nafisha, on the western outskirts of Ismailia. Further west was the Upper Bridge, as it was called. Engineers had wired the bridges with demolition charges for destruction should they fall to the Israelis. Second Army's reserve included the 10th and 118th Mechanized Infantry Brigades, with the latter occupying a series of fortified defenses on the northern bank of the Ismailia Canal.
  The 182nd Paratrooper Brigade, comprising the 81st, 85th and 89th Battalions (each composed of three companies) under the command of Colonel Ismail Azmy, was assigned responsibility for defending the area south of Ismailia against an Israeli offensive. Azmy arrived at Nafisha with the bulk of his brigade at midnight on October 17, where he was briefed by Brigadier General Abd el-Munim Khalil, commander of Second Army. Khalil identified the west bank strong points as objectives for the paratroopers to secure, as the ramparts could be used to provide fire support to Egyptian forces on the east bank. The paratroopers would also hold Serabaeum and the bridges there over the Sweetwater Canal.
  The 85th Paratrooper Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 'Atef Monsif, had been involved in a recent counter-attack against Deversoir. Despite breaking through in certain areas and even seizing part of the airstrip at Deversoir, the paratroopers and their supporting armor were greatly outnumbered and the counter-attack failed. The battalion suffered around a hundred dead, missing or wounded, and by dawn on October 18 it had been pulled back to Inshas Military Base for reorganizing. The only other Egyptian forces in the area were commandos, the 73rd Battalion of the 129th Sa'iqa (lightning) Group. The Sa'iqa had also been engaged in heavy fighting at Serabaeum, Deversoir and the nearby military base of Abu Sultan. By late October 17, the battalion's two companies had been ordered to withdraw from the vicinity of Deversoir northward to defend Serabaeum.
  On October 18, Sharon's division across the canal included the 243rd Paratrooper Brigade under Colonel Danny Matt and an armored brigade under Colonel Haim Erez. Sharon, wanting to expand the Israeli bridgehead northward, received permission to cross a third unit, an armored brigade under Colonel Amnon Reshef, to the west bank, and did so on October 19. The paratroopers and part of the armor had been holding the Israeli bridgehead since October 16, facing little resistance, while Reshef's brigade had been involved in heavy fighting at the Chinese Farm until it was relieved by Israeli reinforcements.
caption: Ariel Sharon, commander of 143rd Armored Division
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