page_title: Battle of Nitzanim
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Nitzanim / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: עברית: אנדרטה באתר של ניצנים הישנה. במקום מספר פסלי ברונזה של נשים שפיסלה הפסלת שוש חפץ. האתר נחנך בשנת 1998 במלאת 50 שנה לקרב על ניצנים ומוקדש לשלוש לוחמות שנפלו בקרב: מירה בן ארי, שולמית דורצ'ין ודבורה אפשטיין. This is a photo of a place that is recognized as a heritage site by The Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel. The site's ID in Wiki Loves Monuments photographic competition is 8-0351-002
context_page_description: The Battle of Nitzanim was a battle fought between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, on June 7, 1948. It was the first major Egyptian victory of the war, and one of the few cases of Israeli surrender.
  The battle began on the night of June 6–7 with an artillery bombardment of Nitzanim, followed by an aerial bombardment and armored and infantry attacks. The main attack broke through the Israeli defenses at around 11:00; the Israelis retreated to a second position, and finally to a third position at 14:00. At 16:00, 105 Israelis surrendered to the Egyptian Army. Between June 7 and 10, the Battle of Hill 69 was fought nearby. The hill was captured by the Egyptians after a disorganized Israeli retreat.
  Israelis viewed the surrender of Nitzanim as a humiliation, especially after the Givati Brigade published a leaflet denouncing the defenders. The residents of Nitzanim demanded a probe into the battle, and one was conducted by the General Staff, siding with the residents and coming to the conclusion that surrender was justified.
context_section_description: The Battle of Nitzanim was one of the few Israeli surrenders during the war and was seen by many as humiliating. The 105 prisoners captured at Nitzanim constituted the majority of POWs captured by Egypt during the entire war. According to the POWs, the Egyptian media covered the event widely, writing that 300 Jews were killed in Nitzanim, that it was a major submarine base, and that much booty was captured, including oil and fuel. Yitzhak Pundak, the battalion commander who was directly responsible for the village's defense, claims that actions could have been taken to save it, including transferring Napoleonchik cannons to the site.
  Following the capture of Hill 69, a major obstacle was removed for Egypt, which enabled it to attack Gal On and capture Gezer. When Givati finally reached Nitzanim after Operation Yoav, they found the village abandoned and largely destroyed, as the Egyptians retreated south to Gaza. The Israelis killed in action were buried in a mass grave in the village. The villagers who returned from captivity on March 7, 1949, as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, rebuilt Nitzanim on a site a few kilometers south of the original. The Nitzanim Youth Village was built in 1949 on the site of the battle, and closed in 1990, where Nitzan was founded later. The site was turned into a tourist attraction, featuring a visual presentation and various monuments, including the Women of Valor Center (Hebrew: יד לאישה לוחמת‎, Yad LeIsha Lohemet), a monument for all female warriors killed in action in Israel's wars, especially the three in Nitzanim: Miriam Ben-Ari, the intern paramedic Shulamit Dorczin, and the 18-year-old Deborah Epstein who died of her wounds in captivity.
caption: The memorial at Nitzanim
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