Battles of Kfar Darom The Battles of Kfar Darom refer to a number of military engagements in 1947 – 1948 between the Jewish Haganah and various Arab forces in the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , in the southern kibbutz Kfar Darom . The most notable battles were fought on May 13 – 15 , 1948 , between the Palmach and the Egyptian army , including Muslim Brotherhood units . The kibbutz was defended by about 30 Israelis and held out against numerous attacks . While Egyptian assaults were unsuccessful , their siege led to the evacuation of the kibbutz by its members on July 8 , 1948 , after resupply attempts through the ground and air by the Israeli Negev Brigade and air force were insufficient or failed entirely . The Egyptian army stormed it the next day only to find it empty . Background . Kfar Darom was originally a fruit orchard established in 1930 by the citrus grower Tuvia Miller , located far from the rest of the Jewish population of the British Mandate of Palestine . It was destroyed in the 1936 – 1939 Arab revolt in Palestine . The village was re - established as part of the 11 points in the Negev plan , a response to the Morrison – Grady Plan for the partition of Palestine . On October 6 , new " olim " left Be ' erot Yitzhak to create Kfar Darom , Be ' eri and Tkuma . Kfar Darom was strategically located on the coastal road that the Egyptians would later use as their main advance and supply route . 1947 – 1948 Palestine War . While all Jewish villages in the Negev were isolated to some degree and therefore comparatively easy targets , during the 1947 – 1948 war in mandatory Palestine , Kfar Darom bore the brunt of the Arab attacks . First shots were fired at the village on December 7 , 1947 . By this time the village was under siege and military effort was required to get supplies through . The situation deteriorated and by April 1948 , Kfar Darom was completely surrounded by Arab forces . The first significant Arab attempt to capture Kfar Darom was on March 23 , 1948 , when 18 separate attacks were repelled by the local residents . Shots were again heard on April 8 . On April 10 , a Muslim Brotherhood ' s First Battalion under Husni al - Musawi staged an attack on the village , but was defeated with dozens of casualties . The next attempt was made by the Brotherhood on May 10 under Lieutenant Colonel ( " Bikbashi " ) Ahmad al - Aziz . Aziz sent reconnaissance patrols on May 10 , and on the next day , assaulted the village . He hoped that a one - hour artillery barrage would kill or wound most of the defenders , but it was mostly off - target and failed to destroy any building . Three infantry and armor thrusts were repelled , as they were allowed to come close to the village fence unmolested , and concentrated fire was opened at them when they did , causing confusion . The sappers who were meant to breach the fence were all killed or wounded and the force could not advance further and retreated , leaving 70 dead . In Kfar Darom , four were killed and four wounded , leaving a total of 25 able to fight . Battles of May 13 – 15 . Battles were renewed on the night of May 12 , when a Muslim Brotherhood infantry contingent breached the eastern fence of Kfar Darom . They entered into a minefield and withdrew . A lone tank broke through the gate but had to stop at a communications trench . It was torched with Molotov cocktail s and withdrew as well . At this point the kibbutz was defended by 30 members , of them 20 Palmach soldiers from the Negev Brigade . After two reinforcement attempts before Egyptian intervention failed ( one of them because of a " rebellion " by Palmach squad commanders who refused to lead new recruits ) , the Negev Brigade planned a major breakthrough with a reinforced company with several armored vehicles . The plan was to capture the Bedouin locality Khirbat Ma ' in and get a convoy through to Kfar Darom during the night of May 14 – 15 . The attack was delayed and Khirbat Ma ' in was only taken at dawn . The vehicles proceeded in daylight to Kfar Darom , but got bogged down in sand away from the village , and came under fire from Muslim Brotherhood forces . All vehicles were abandoned except one , which managed to reach Kfar Darom fully intact . Many of the troops from the abandoned vehicles made it to Kfar Darom on foot , but carried 39 wounded , which only made the fighting more difficult for the besieged . Food and water rations now had to be divided among more people . The Egyptian regular army staged its attack on the morning of May 15 . Forces from the 1st Battalion including three tanks , six armored vehicles , 10 other vehicles and an infantry contingent attacked Kfar Darom from the Deir al - Balah railway station in the northwest . They were met with anti - tank fire and retreated after one tank was hit . The Egyptian infantry pushed on , but was repelled and failed to breached the perimeter . The Egyptian losses amounted to 70 killed and 50 wounded . All the while , Egyptian aircraft made bombing runs on the village . After the ground troops reorganized , they made a final thrust to rescue to wounded left in the field , and a heavy artillery barrage on the village followed . Siege and evacuation . By the first truce of the war on June 11 , Kfar Darom was completely surrounded and under siege by Egyptian forces . Numerous attempts were made before and during the truce , including aerial drops , to deliver food and supplies to the village . The United Nations ceasefire observers did not intervene , and Egypt prevented the besieged kibbutz from receiving aid , including by shelling the areas where aerial drops landed , so that they could not be picked up . One convoy from the Negev Brigade managed to enter the village , but were subjected to Egyptian fire when trying to get back . After 8 days , they finally managed to take a few wounded and make it back to the Israeli lines . In light of the situation , the Negev Brigade requested permission to evacuate Kfar Darom . Although they would be sacrificing a strategic asset ( a position that overlooked the coastal road , which was Egypt ' s main supply route ) and deviating from the principle prevalent at that time in Israel that no settlement would be evacuated , the brigade wished to consolidate its positions , and Kfar Darom was a major burden . The General Staff agreed , and an order was given to abandon the village on July 8 . It was evacuated under cover of darkness with all the weapons possible to carry , as well as the two Torah scroll s ; other supplies were destroyed . Egypt ' s army attacked on July 9 with infantry , armor and artillery , but were surprised to find the village deserted . Reactions and aftermath . The initial stand of Kfar Darom on May 13 – 15 lifted the morale of all Israeli forces , as it was considered the first successful Jewish stand against the Arab standing armies ( Gush Etzion had fallen to the Transjordanian Arab Legion several days earlier ) . The land of Kfar Darom remained under Egyptian control following the 1949 Armistice Agreements , and became part of the Gaza Strip . Some of the kibbutz members helped found Bnei Darom in 1949 , near today ' s Ashdod . The Gaza Strip was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six - Day War , and in 1970 , a Nahal settlement was built next to the old Kfar Darom . It was civilianized in October 1989 . On August 18 , 2005 , Kfar Darom was evacuated as part of Israel ' s unilateral disengagement plan .