Battle of Rafah ( 1949 ) The Battle of Rafah was a military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the final stage of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War . It was fought on January 3 – 8 , 1949 , just south of Rafah , today in the Gaza Strip . The battle was initiated by Israel as part of Operation Horev , on the backdrop of the Sinai battles just before . The Israelis were hoping to encircle all Egyptian forces in Palestine and drive them back to Egypt . The Golani and Harel brigades were allocated for the attack , with the 8th Brigade serving as the operational reserve and the Negev Brigade staging diversions . While the Israelis had great trouble to advance in their individual assaults , eventually a battalion - sized force managed to take a position on the road from Rafah to the Sinai Peninsula , effectively surrounding the Egyptian expeditionary force . However , by this time the Egyptians agreed to negotiate armistice and the Israeli political echelon therefore ordered all troops back . The battle of Rafah was the last major combat operation in the war and was followed by the armistice agreements with Egypt . Background . The Egyptian regular army invaded Israel on May 15 , 1948 following Israel ' s Declaration of Independence the day before . The main Egyptian column moved up the coastal plain in the following days , stopping at Isdud and establishing its headquarters in Majdal . After the creation of the Beit Hanoun wedge and other Israeli offensives in Operation Yoav , the Egyptian staff withdrew to Gaza and most of their forces concentrated in what is today the Gaza Strip . On December 22 , 1948 , the Israelis launched Operation Horev , with the objective of expelling all Egyptian forces from Palestine . The Israeli Southern Command , under Yigal Allon , planned to encircle the Egyptians from the Sinai Peninsula , without the knowledge of the General Staff . Due to international pressure however , Allon ' s forces retreated from the Sinai and prepared instead to encircle the Egyptians by capturing the positions south of Rafah . The Arab village Rafah was located on the border of Palestine and Egypt . To the south , there was a sand dune , followed by the coastal road and railway , followed by another sand dune , containing a Bedouin cemetery at the top ( about 100 m above sea level ) . In the plateau between the dunes , the British built a large military base on both sides of the border in World War II . Battle . The Israel plan — the second stage of Operation Horev — was to take a number of position south of Rafah , just south of Rafah ' s military case . The Golani Brigade would attack from the east and take Hill 102 and the cemetery position , while the Harel Brigade would strike from the south and capture the junction on the Gaza – al - Arish road . The Negev and 8th brigades were also meat to assist in the operation as diversionary and reserve forces , respectively . The Egyptian forces in the area consisted of a reinforced brigade with 25 pounder s and 20 M22 Locust tanks . Golani forces from the 12th Battalion left kibbutz Nirim at 18 : 00 on January 3 . A company was allocated to take each Hill 102 and the cemetery position . A special emphasis was placed on the transport of munitions and reinforcements , following the earlier debacle at the Battle of Hill 86 . The attack on Hill 102 failed , as did two subsequent attacks . As the Golani forces approached the hill on the first attack , they were hit by friendly fire from the Israeli artillery , which also caused the Egyptians to notice them and fire their own artillery . The Golani company then retreated . The second assault , this time involving armored units , was repelled by the Egyptians who had reinforced the position with anti - tank weapons in the meantime . The cemetery position had been captured by Israeli forces at 00 : 30 on January 4 . The forces achieved complete surprise and were only discovered about 50 m away from the inner defensive perimeter , which they were able to penetrate and overwhelm the Egyptians in a matter of minutes , taking prisoners . The Egyptians counterattacked against the cemetery position several times , but could not dislodge the Golani forces . The first counterattack included 9 tanks , the remnants of the M22 Locust battalion that fought in Operation Assaf and on Hill 86 . Five tanks were destroyed by Golani , and the Egyptians retreated . In the second counterattack ( at 11 : 00 ) , the Israelis destroyed four additional tanks . The third counterattack was mostly made up of infantry and armored vehicles with flamethrowers . By this time , most of Golani ' s weapons were either destroyed or jammed . After a PIAT hit one of the Egyptian armored vehicles , the latter retreated . At least 150 Egyptian soldiers were killed in their counterattacks . On January 5 , Golani moved west and took another position closer to the junction , which was still in Egyptian hands . Israeli ships and aircraft bombarded the Egyptian forces , inflicting a large number of casualties , mostly civilian ; the Egyptians sought to block a mass flight to mainland Egypt , which would hurt morale among the population there . In the meantime , Harel forces moved up the ' Auja – Rafah road and by 14 : 00 on January 4 had taken a number of outlying positions in the Sinai Peninsula just across the border . At 11 : 00 on January 5 , they attacked the junction ' s southern position , but failed to take it . The brigade ' s 5th Battalion attacked at night and managed to take over both positions overlooking the junction by 02 : 00 on January 6 . However , the Egyptians counterattacked during a sandstorm and retook the junction , surprising the Israelis , who retreated with 10 missing . An 8th Brigade reserve was brought from Gvulot , which conducted an assault on the western position of the junction in the afternoon , but the attack was unsuccessful . On the night of January 6 – 7 , the 4th Battalion ( Harel ) , under David Elazar , captured an area further west and dug in , effectively surrounding the remaining Egyptian forces in Palestine , as envisioned by the Israeli command . An Egyptian supply convoy and a counterattack were stopped in this area on January 7 . The Egyptians lost 8 tanks and armored vehicles in the counterattack . At the night of January 7 – 8 , Israeli forces bombed the coastal railway to stop any possibility of supply for the encircled Egyptians . One mine they laid destroyed an Egyptian train carrying hundreds of wounded to al - Arish . The final and decisive attack was planned for January 8 , but the sandstorm caused the Israelis to set it off for another 24 hours . By this time , the Egyptian political echelon had agreed to negotiate armistice with the Israelis , on the condition that Israel withdraws its forces . The Southern Command chief Yigal Allon was against accepting the terms , but on January 7 Prime Minister David Ben - Gurion agreed . The ceasefire was officially declared on January 7 at 14 : 00 , although final skirmishes were fought into the night . In light of that , the Israeli forces in the Harel Brigade ' s position ( including reinforcements from the 8th Brigade ) withdrew on January 9 – 10 . Aftermath . The battle surrounding Rafah signified the end of major combat engagements in the 1948 Arab – Israeli War . The battle paved the way for the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Egypt , and the front lines at the end of the battle roughly corresponded to the armistice boundaries , except the cemetery position and the Beit Hanoun wedge , which were handed over to Egypt .