Battle of Nirim The Battle of Nirim , also Battle of Dangour , was a military engagement between the Egyptian army and the Jewish Haganah on May 15 , 1948 , the first day of the Egyptian invasion of Israel in the 1948 Arab – Israeli War . It was fought in kibbutz Nirim ( in Arabic , Dangour ) , founded just two years earlier as part of the 11 points in the Negev . The Egyptian 6th Battalion attacked about 40 Israeli defenders at dawn on May 15 , backed by armored vehicles , mortars , cannons and aircraft . They failed to take the village and retreated about 7 hours later , leaving behind about 30 – 35 dead . Background . The first stage of the 1948 War , referred to as the 1947 – 1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine , started following the ratification of UN Resolution 181 on November 29 , 1947 , which granted Israel the mandate to declare independence , dividing the Mandate into a Jewish state Arab states . This was declared on May 14 , 1948 and the next night , the armies of a number of Arab states invaded Israel and attacked Israeli positions . Kibbutz Nirim was founded in June 1946 as part of the 11 points in the Negev initiative , a response to the Morrison – Grady Plan for the partition of Palestine . On October 5 – 6 , 1946 , new olim left Gvulot to create Nirim to the west and Urim to the south . Nirim was located in close proximity to the new Egypt – Israel border , and the southernmost locality near the coastal road , the Egyptian army ' s main advance path . At the first stage of the Egyptian invasion , a division - sized force under General Ahmed Ali al - Mwawi moved along the coastal road towards Majdal . Since there was only one line of movement , Mwawi feared for his supply lines , and attacked the Jewish villages threatening them most . Nirim and Kfar Darom were the first such villages . Nirim was perceived as an immediate threat to the Egyptian staff units at Rafah . The Bedouins of the area left previously on Arab order , also knowing that the kibbutz would be targeted . Positions and distribution of forces . The Israeli defenders were all members of Nirim itself , 39 – 45 in number ( including 12 women ) . They were subordinate to the Negev Brigade ' s 8th Battalion , commanded by Haim Bar - Lev . The village was fenced and mined ; its members had a total of 34 rifle s and submachine gun s , two light machine guns and one 52 mm ( 2 " ) mortar . Avraham Adan , then a commander of a mobile company in the Negev Brigade ' s 8th Battalion , wrote that the defenders were well - trained and conditioned , even by Palmach standards . The Egyptian force consisted of about 500 – 800 troops from the 6th Infantry Battalion , backed by armored vehicles ( including at least 20 Bren carrier s ) , 81 mm ( 3 " ) mortars , 2 - pound and 6 - pound cannons , and aircraft . A battery of 25 - pound artillery was stationed in the area of Rafah . They were not prepared for the battle and had insufficient intelligence of the Israelis . According to Gamal Abdel Nasser , the adjutant of the battalion , the infantry was " slow and [ . . . ] without energy " . The Israeli firing positions were located in the four corners of the kibbutz , numbered clockwise ( Position 1 in the southeast , 2 in the southwest , etc . ) . Another position was located next to the gate in the west . Most of the buildings were made of wood , except the " Safety House " made of reinforced concrete next to Position 1 . No water tower had been built there yet , but construction had started next to Position 2 . The medical and communication facilities , as well as the command bunker , were located underground in the center of the village . Battle . On May 15 at 05 : 30 , the Egyptian forces were spotted advancing at the kibbutz . At 07 : 00 , a massive artillery barrage from Rafah commenced , lasting a full hour and causing devastating damage , injuring 12 village members , and severing telephone and radio contact with the rest of the Israeli forces . About 400 m outside the kibbutz , the Egyptian infantry disembarked from their vehicles and the force split into two main wings : much of the infantry circled and attacked from the north - northwest , while the majority of the armor attempted an attack on the main gate in the west . Radio contact was restored , but came and went for the length of the battle . Nearby Israeli villages had additional troops , but they did little to alleviate the pressure on Nirim . According to Avraham Adan , himself a member of Nirim , whose company assembled at nearby Mivtahim , Bar Lev opposed trying to break the Egyptian ranks and did not believe Adan ' s company capable of doing so . One Israeli squad disguised in Arab traditional garments , however , was sent to the kibbutz to gather intelligence and reconnoiter the area . Another squad , at the request of the defenders , was sent from Tze ' elim . Bar Lev also sent three command cars to the area as a diversion . The Egyptian infantry , while receiving cover fire from 2 " mortars , did not have sufficient means to breach fences , and around noon , after fierce fighting , was forced to retreat . Meanwhile , individual Egyptian armored vehicles and 3 " mortar teams surrounded the village and shelled it from several directions . The main force halted and exchanged fire outside the gate , short of the clearly labeled minefield . At approximately 12 : 30 , they too began to retreat . The Egyptian artillery continued shelling the kibbutz for two additional days . Shells that fell between 15 : 00 and 19 : 00 caused a fire in the village ' s armory . Aftermath and reactions . Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the battle , including the regional commander and one woman , Rivka Salzman , a Holocaust survivor . The Egyptians killed in action were about 30 – 35 , and according to Israeli estimates , about 40 % of them died of friendly fire . All of the buildings of Nirim were wholly or partially destroyed . The seven Israelis were buried in a common grave outside the village by reinforcements that came after the battle . The Cairo Radio declared that the kibbutz had been captured , and the Egyptians returned to their base for a victory parade . In fact , Nirim remained in constant Israeli control until the end of the war . The Egyptian army took the time to reorganize ( additionally hurt by a defeat at Kfar Darom ) and attacked kibbutz Yad Mordechai four days later . The Israelis began restoring the damaged trenches and fortifications in Nirim , expecting another attack shortly , and the next morning it indeed appeared as if the Egyptians were going to attack again , creating a smoke screen in front of the village . However , the attack did not come . Because of the intermittent shelling , in the days following the battle the residents of Nirim were forced to continue living underground and faced numerous related hardships . Elisha Kali , a kibbutz member , invented a mirror - based contraption that provided light to the bunkers by automatically moving two mirrors so that they always reflected sunlight . Haim Bar Lev later said that the battle of Nirim decided the outcome of the war , because if 45 lightly armed Israeli soldiers could stand against great odds , all of Israel could withstand the war . On the Egyptian side , Gamal Abdel Nasser commented that " I felt that the dead left behind at Dangour symbolized the battalion ' s [ lack of ] faith in the cause for which it was fighting " . A monument to the fallen at Nirim is located on the site of the village . It incorporates two symbols of the battle : the Safety House and the sign that had been hanged in the dining hall two weeks earlier in the May Day celebrations , reading " Not the tank will prevail , but the man " .