Battles of the Separation Corridor The Battles of the Separation Corridor ( , " Kravot Retzu ' at HaNituk " ) were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian army in Operation Yoav , and were the centerpiece of the operation . They took place throughout all of Yoav ( October 15 – 22 , 1948 ) , in the strip of land between the Israeli - held Negev enclave and the rest of the country . This area is generally called the Separation Strip in Hebrew . The battles saw the Israelis set up a permanent land connection with the enclave through the Junction ( , " HaTzomet " , a strategic crossroads west of Negba ) , Kawkaba and Huleiqat . A wedge was set up at Khirbet Masara ( between Fallujah and Bayt Jibrin ) , in accordance with Operation Yoav ' s strategy to create wedges to cut off large Egyptian units , however , the wedge was unsuccessful and the Egyptians bypassed it . Attacks on other positions in the corridor , including the Iraq Suwaydan police fort , were also unsuccessful . The battles , having opened a safe supply route to the Negev , had both political and military significance . It strengthened the Israeli claim to the whole Negev Desert and allowing for much of Israel ' s conquest in Operation Horev and Operation Uvda in December 1948 – March 1949 . Background . The second truce of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War started on July 18 , 1948 , with an Israeli enclave in the Negev disconnected from the rest of the country . Military operations , including An - Far , Death to the Invader and GYS , to create a corridor between the two areas , failed . The United Nations mediator Folke Bernadotte ' s second plan for Palestine became known on September 20 , days after Bernadotte was assassinated by the Lehi . This plan envisioned the Israeli Negev enclave to be handed over to the Arab side . Israel ' s military options were pondered by its leadership during the second truce , and the Bernadotte Plan prompted the government and army to decide to concentrate the next effort on the southern front . The Operation , codenamed The Ten Plagues , was meant to open a permanent ground connection to the Negev , and gradually encircle the Egyptian forces in the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin corridor by creating wedges that would deny the Egyptians free movements between their main troop concentrations . This was the approach favored by Yigal Allon , head of the Southern Command , which mostly won over the General Staff ' s proposals to directly assault the large Egyptian concentrations . The Junction was an important crossroads between the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road and the internal Negev road . It was overlooked by kibbutz Negba , the Iraq Suwaydan police fort , and Hills 100 , 103 and 113 . Khirbet Masara wedge . On the night of October 15 – 16 , Israeli forces from the Givati Brigade ' s 53rd Battalion occupied the site of Khirbet Masara and the adjacent Hill 224 . 9 , positions on the road connecting Iraq al - Manshiyya to Bayt Jibrin . On October 17 , the site of Khirbet ' Atalla to the northeast was also taken . However , as in the case of the Beit Hanoun wedge , this did not stop the Egyptians from moving from Fallujah and Iraq al - Manshiyya to Bayt Jibrin and Hebron , as they created an alternate path south of the wedge , through Qubeiba . However , the wedge served as a staging point for further Israeli territorial gains , eventually leading to the isolation of Fallujah and Iraq al - Manshiyya in what became known as the Fallujah Pocket . Battle of Iraq al - Manshiyya . The plan of Operation Yoav called for the creation of a permanent land corridor to the Negev through Iraq al - Manshiyya . The attack was meant to be carried out on October 17 , 1948 . It was , however , brought forward 24 hours to October 16 after a recommendation by Yitzhak Sadeh , commander of the 8th Armored Brigade . The attack would mark the first time that tanks would be used by Israel in the southern front . The Israelis hoped that Egypt would concentrate its main defenses in Fallujah , the locality that overlooked the vital Junction position , and therefore leave Iraq al - Manshiyya lightly defended . The village ' s two main positions were a tell just north , and the village school . At 06 : 20 , the Israeli artillery began its barrage , and at 07 : 00 , the Israeli tanks ( Cromwell and Hotchkiss of the 82nd Battalion ) set out to assist the infantry ( Negev Brigade ' s 7th Battalion ) , which had already left their bases . At 07 : 40 , the infantry reached the school and a report came in that the village itself was being abandoned . What followed was complete chaos on the Israeli side ; a Cromwell tank broke down , a Hotchkiss tank drove into a trap , and others ran out of ammunition . As other tanks broke down , more were needed to take them back for repair . There was no clear communication between the infantry and armored forces , and in different sectors , infantry and armor acted separately . When the unit attacking the school retreated , the one that was on its way to the tell suffered a severe morale blow . As the Egyptians opened fire from previously unknown positions , it completely surprised the Israelis who had about a third of their force killed or wounded . After the armored forces were all out of the fight , an order was given to withdraw . Only 15 soldiers made it back to the starting positions . Rescue efforts to return the wounded still in the field continued throughout the day . In all , the Israeli forces suffered over 100 casualties and four tanks were destroyed . Capturing the Junction . After the failure to open up a permanent land corridor to the Negev through Iraq al - Manshiyya , the head of the Southern Command , Yigal Allon , decided to shift the major efforts to the west . On the night of October 16 – 17 , the Givati Brigade ' s 51st Battalion set out from Julis to capture the Junction . It moved in three separate prongs — the 2nd Company in the west , the 3rd in the center and the 4th in the east . Another force set out from Negba to intercept possible Egyptian reinforcements from Iraq Suwaydan . The Egyptian forces in the area consisted of one battalion spread out through the hills north of the Junction , the Junction itself , and the positions of Kawkab and Huleiqat . At 21 : 15 , the 2nd Company noticed movement near the location on the road where it was supposed to set up its own blocking force to intercept reinforcements . It turned east and set up its block closer to the Junction . At 21 : 20 , the Israelis began shelling hills 100 , 103 and 113 , just northwest of the junction , with 3 " ( 81 mm ) mortars . Meanwhile , an Egyptian Bren carrier ran into a mine on the eastern roadblock , killing the local Egyptian commander . At 22 : 50 , Hill 103 was taken without resistance by the 4th Company , which proceeded to link up to the 3rd Company attacking Hill 113 . Hills 100 and 113 , joined by Egypt into one position , were captured by the two companies on October 17 at 01 : 15 . The Junction consisted of two major positions — one in the southwest and one in the northwest . The 2nd Company ' s commander decided to mount an assault on the southern position and at the same set up a roadblock just south . During the attack , communication with other Israeli forces was lost . Two soldiers were sent to the Israeli - held Hill 105 to renew it . Jeuda Wallach , the commander of the 51st Battalion , moved his HQ to Hill 113 . The Givati forces took the southern position , and the Egyptians from the northern position counterattacked . The attack lasted 3 hours , during which the Israeli company commander recalled the force blocking the road to the south to help . Israelis suffered 30 casualties , but successfully repelled the assault . A Samson ' s Foxes force was sent to assist in the southern position , but encountered Egyptian Bren carriers and turned back . The Egyptians , finding themselves isolated , also decided to avoid another confrontation and the northern position retreated to Iraq Suwaydan , allowing Givati to complete the capture of the Junction . Battles around Fallujah and Iraq Suwaydan . In the night of October 18 – 19 , the Israelis attacked various positions on the Egyptian " Burma Road " , a bypass road created during the second truce after Israel captured Hatta and Karatiyya in Operation Death to the Invader . An initial Yiftach Brigade attack on Huleiqat the previous night failed , and the southern command decided to use its reinforcements brought for Operation Yoav , the Oded Brigade , to take a number of positions just west of Fallujah . The brigade had just been brought from the Galilee and did not get sufficient practice in fighting in a flat topography . The plan was to take Position 2 , followed by 1 and 4 , and finally Position 3 . Oded attacked from Karatiyya with the strength of four companies , without artillery or armored support . At 21 : 00 on October 18 , they breached the fence of the 2nd position , but met with heavy fire and the deputy battalion commander was killed in action . The company in the operational reserve was brought to assist , but failed to effect a difference . Meanwhile , another company assaulted the 4th position and also managed to breach the fence . Interpreted as a success , the final company was sent to attack the 3rd position . It stalled due to Egyptian artillery fire and withdrew . At 02 : 00 on October 19 , the company attacking the 4th position , pinned down and unable to advance , retreated as well , and at 03 : 00 , the Oded forces fighting at the 2nd position did the same . Two more attempts were made to capture the Iraq Suwaydan police fort until October 22 . On the night of October 19 – 20 , Givati ' s 51st Battalion made its assault , under the assumption that the fort was manned by one demoralized Egyptian platoon . The fort was surrounded by three barbed wire fences , and bunkers were placed in between . The Givati force encountered one such bunker , and could not overcome it until Ben - Zion Leitner threw a grenade inside and clear it . Leitner was severely injured , and later awarded the Hero of Israel . Nevertheless , exhausted and suffering from problems with their munitions , the Israeli forces retreated . The 51st Battalion attempted another takeover of the fort on October 21 – 22 . After an artillery and aircraft barrage at 18 : 00 , the Givati forces made their assault , employing a rigged armored vehicle which was meant to blow a hole through the fort ' s walls . It got trapped between the barbed wire fences , but its explosion destroyed them and allowed the infantry to advanced onto the fort itself . Four soldiers managed to infiltrate it , but were overwhelmed by Egyptian fire and withdrew . The final battle of the corridor in Operation Yoav also came on the night of October 21 – 22 , when Givati ' s 53rd Battalion made an attempts at the Egyptian Burma Road , failing to take any positions and retreating . Battles of Kawkaba and Huleiqat . As mentioned , the Yiftach Brigade failed to capture Huleiqat and its outlying position ( Hill 138 . 5 ) on October 17 – 18 . Givati , on the other hand , succeeded in capturing Kawkaba to the north , and on October 18 – 19 — the adjacent Bayt Tima . No further attempts were made to attack Huleiqat from the south , and instead Givati set out to capture it from the north . The participating units were four companies from the 52nd Battalion and two from the 54th . The Egyptians were spread out in hills 114 . 1 , 123 . 2 , 120 , 120a , 128 . 2 , 138 . 5 , 131 . 2 and in Huleiqat itself . Their force now consisted of three companies — two of Egyptian and one of Saudi origin . At 21 : 30 on October 19 , Israeli artillery began shelling the Egyptian positions . The attack began at 22 : 45 ; Hill 120a was the first to fall , at the hands of the 52nd Battalion ' s 3rd Company , with little resistance , but the Saudi troops who retreated from there reinforced the adjacent Hill 128 . 2 and counterattacked , dislodging the Israelis who had just captured the hill . On Hill 120a , the Egyptians and Saudis left many weapons , including 34 Vickers machine gun s , which an Egyptian prisoner of war taught the Givati forces to use . The weapons were used in the final capture of Hill 128 . 2 . The 54th Battalion ' s company took part of Hill 123 . 2 , but entered a stalemate with the Egyptians there . Next , the 52nd Battalion ' s 1st Company took hills 114 . 1 and 120 in the center , in two waves . They then repelled an Egyptian counterattack from Huleiqat . Meanwhile , the 52nd Battalion ' s 2nd Company retook Hill 128 . 2 . After establishing itself on Hill 120 , part of the 1st Company ( 52nd ) took Hill 138 . 5 , facing only light resistance . The 54th Battalion ' s 3rd Company meanwhile assisted the 1st in finishing the takeover of Hill 123 . 2 . Finally , at 03 : 00 on October 20 , the Saudi forces manning Hill 131 . 2 retreated and the position was taken by the 52nd Battalion ' s 4th Company , putting the entire Kawkaba – Huleiqat corridor under Israeli control . Givati suffered 28 dead and 70 wounded . Significance . One of the main Israeli achievements of these battles , and indeed , Operation Yoav , was the creation of a permanent land corridor between the Israeli Negev enclave and the rest of the country , following the capture of Huleiqat on October 20 . This allowed for the commencement of Operation Moshe on October 21 , which saw the capture of Beersheba , the " capital of the Negev " , by the Negev Brigade . Another point of significance was the creation of the basic guidelines for what would later become the Fallujah Pocket ( the area of Fallujah – Iraq al - Manshuyya ) , and the general cutting off of the western wing of the Egyptian expeditionary force from its eastern wing .