Battles of Negba The Battles of Negba were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian army in the 1948 War of Independence . Negba , a kibbutz founded in 1939 , had a strategic position overlooking the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road , and was a target of two major assaults by the Egyptians in June and July 1948 . On June 2 , the Egyptians attacked the village from the south with a battalion reinforced with armor , artillery , and aircraft , and were beaten back by 140 defenders , who were assisted by motorized Negev Brigade forces . The second attack took place on July 12 , when the Egyptians staged diversionary assaults on nearby positions and surrounded Negba from all sides , again with a reinforced battalion . This attack was also dispersed , and Negba remained in Israeli hands , serving as a forward base for attacks against Egyptian forces up to Operation Yoav . Background . Kibbutz Negba was founded in 1939 as a tower and stockade settlement , the first lasting modern Jewish settlement in the Negev desert . At the outset of the second stage of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , Negba was the southernmost village of the main Israeli - controlled land mass , and was not isolated like the nearby Nitzanim , Kfar Darom and the northern Negev settlements mainly founded as part of the 11 points in the Negev plan . The Egyptian army invaded Israel on May 15 , after Israel ' s declaration of independence on the previous day . Its main force moved up the coastal road , and engaged in a battle in Kfar Darom on May 15 and the Battle of Yad Mordechai on May 19 – 24 . The column reached Majdal on May 14 . From there , forces were sent north to Isdud , reaching it on May 29 , and to Bayt Jibrin through Fallujah on June 1 , cutting a wedge between Israeli - held northern Negev and the rest of Israel . They finally disconnected the Negev by taking up position on the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road during the first truce of the war ( June 11 – July 8 ) . Negba was located in an area surrounded by a number of hills , especially the police fort at Iraq Suwaydan 1 . 7 km to the south . The kibbutz was adjacent to a number of other strategic positions , including " The Junction " , a road intersection between the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road and the road from Kawkaba to Julis . Its defense was organized into 13 positions at the perimeter , connected by communication trenches , with the main gate in the north and the headquarters in the middle . Underground shelters were spread out throughout the entire village . A road passed from north to south in the village , but the Israelis left only the northern approach open , which was also close to an airplane landing strip . First skirmishes and battle of June 2 . On May 12 , 1948 , even before Egypt ' s invasion , Egyptian volunteer units took control of the Iraq Suwaydan police fort following the British withdrawal . Two Israeli attempts were made to capture it — on the same day and on May 18 – 19 — but both failed . On May 21 , an Egyptian motorized unit made a deterrent raid on Negba . This was accompanied by aircraft bombardment , which killed the Israeli regional commander , Yitzhak " Yoav " Dubno , who was attempting to shoot down aircraft . Operation Yoav was named in his honor , as was the Iraq Suwaydan police fort , following its capture by Israel . The Egyptians continued to harass Negba in the following days , and the Givati Brigade decided to send two platoons from its 53rd Battalion , as well as mortars , as reinforcements . The brigade ' s forces also occupied Julis ( May 27 – 28 ) in order to control a position from which further reinforcements to Negba could be provided . On the day of the Egyptian attack on June 2 , the Israeli forces in Negba numbered about 70 Givati Brigade soldiers and 70 village residents ( including 10 women ) . They had a total of 80 rifles , 200 hand grenade s , 500 Molotov cocktail s , 20 submachine guns , 8 machine guns , 3 two - inch mortars , 2 three - inch mortars and one PIAT . The Egyptian force consisted of the 1st Infantry Battalion , supplemented by a tank company , an armored car company and three field artillery batteries ( one 3 . 7 " and two 25 - pounder ) . They planned to surround the kibbutz and attack from all directions . The Egyptian forces started the attack with an artillery barrage on the night of June 1 – 2 . Their column then moved eastward on the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road , attacking Negba from the south in three armored prongs . Egyptian machine gun positions provided cover fire from Bayt ' Affa and ' Ibdis in the east and northeast , respectively . In all , seven tanks and 12 armored cars reached within 100 m of the village ' s southwestern perimeter at about 07 : 00 on June 2 ( positions 6 – 8 ) . One of them reached Position 6 which was completely destroyed , but withdrew under heavy fire from Position 7 . Two others encountered land mines . At the same time , the Egyptian infantry with armored and air support attacked from the northeast but was repelled . Shimon Avidan , the Givati Brigade commander , used Negev Brigade forces under his command ( originally earmarked for Operation Pleshet ) to assist Negba . A jeep unit from the Negev Beasts Battalion was sent to the west of the kibbutz to harass the Egyptian flank . At the same time , an Israeli 25 - pound cannon stationed at Kfar Warburg opened up a barrage against Iraq Suwaydan ' s fort . By 11 : 00 , the Egyptian forces decided to withdraw under a smoke screen . Negba suffered 8 dead and 11 wounded , while the Egyptian losses were estimated by Israel at 100 killed and wounded . Battle of July 12 . The second Egyptian attack on Negba constituted the pinnacle of their effort during the , the period between the first and second truces of the war . The Egyptians allocated a reinforced brigade ( the 4th ) to the task , part of which ( 2nd and 6th battalions ) conducted diversionary operations at ' Ibdis and Julis . The composition of the force used to attack Negba itself was similar to the previous attempt — an infantry battalion , assisted by one tank company and one armored vehicle company , complemented by artillery and air support . The infantry battalion was the 9th , commanded by Sa ' ad ad - Din Rahmani , which had seen success in the Battle of Nitzanim and Hill 69 . Unlike the previous battle , the Egyptians made good on their plans to surround the village , in order to prevent outside Israeli intervention . By 06 : 00 , Negba was encircled and forces stood ready to move in . An initial artillery barrage from surrounding position ( Bayt ' Affa , Hill 113 to the west and Hill 105 to the north ) commenced at 07 : 00 , with a more concentrated effort at 08 : 45 , and an air raid at 08 : 00 . At 11 : 00 , armored and infantry forces started moving against the village from three directions ( west , south , east ) . The simultaneous Egyptian attacks were poorly coordinated however , and the infantry and armor did not work well together . Negba ' s defenders held out , although the initial effort reached a distance of 50 m from the perimeter . The Egyptians regrouped at 16 : 00 and attempted a final thrust from the north . Achieving no success , the Egyptians retreated at 18 : 00 , leaving behind one tank ( a Fiat M13 / 40 ) and four Bren carrier s . Israel estimated Egyptian losses at 300 killed and wounded . The Israeli casualties were 5 killed and 16 wounded . The aforementioned M13 / 40 tank that was abandoned by its crew during the battle was the subject of a skirmish and a controversy . At night after their retreat , Egyptian forces tried to pull it back to their own lines , but an Israeli sapper had managed to mine the tank ' s surroundings . Several days later , an IDF armored serviceman helped rescue the tank and took it for repairs and reuse . The residents of Negba demanded an alternative tank as a war trophy , and five years later they were granted an M22 Locust . Although it lacked a gun barrel , one was attached by the Armored Corps , and the tank has remained in Negba since . Aftermath . After July 12 , the Egyptians did not attack Negba again , but made an attempt to surround it by sending a Sudanese company to capture Hill 105 to the north . Israel subsequently used Negba as a base for future operations in an attempt to cut through the Egyptian lines and link up with the Israeli - held enclave in the northern Negev . Some of the areas immediately surrounding Negba were captured in the days following the second battle during Operation An - Far . After battles on the night of July 12 – 13 , Givati reported that it was in control of Hill 105 on 00 : 30 on July 14 . Operation Death to the Invader on July 16 – 19 failed to take Bayt ' Affa , Iraq Suwaydan and Hill 113 however . These areas were captured on October 16 – 17 ( Hill 113 ) and November 9 – 11 ( Bayt ' Affa , Iraq Suwaydan ) during Operation Yoav . Both of Negba ' s successful stands had a significant symbolic value in Israel , especially among the working – settlement class . The commander of the Egyptian forces in Palestine , Ahmed Ali al - Mwawi , dismissed Muhammad Naguib ( commander of the 4th Brigade ) over the defeat . Naguib would later lead the military coup against the Egyptian government . This battle is considered to be the turning point on the southern front during the period between the first and second truces of the war . The culture office of the Givati Brigade , Abba Kovner , compared the defense to the Battle of Stalingrad , referring to it as Negbagrad . A monument to commemorate the Israeli fallen , by sculptor Nathan Rapoport , was erected at the military cemetery in the village , at the request of Yisrael Barzilai . The sculpture depicts a male farmer and a female nurse who is a girl ( the parents ) , and their son , a soldier . The monument is made of bronze and is 4 m tall . It symbolizes a will for defense , the work toward a better future , and the IDF ' s supply shortage , shown by the fact that the soldier isn ' t wearing a helmet . After the 1979 Egyptian – Israeli Peace Treaty , the Egyptians requested to place a memorial for its own fallen in Negba as well . Due to local opposition , the monument was placed in nearby Sde Yoav .