Battle of Be ' erot Yitzhak The Battle of Be ' erot Yitzhak was a military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces and Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab – Israeli War . It was fought on July 15 , 1948 , in the ten - day period between the first and second truces of the war . The Egyptian army , after unsuccessful attacks on Negba on July 12 and Gal On on July 14 , assaulted the lightly defended outlying Negev village Be ' erot Yitzhak . They managed to penetrate the village perimeter , but the Israelis concentrated in an inner position in the village , and fought off the Egyptian advance until reinforcements arrived and drove out the attackers . Background . Be ' erot Yitzhak was a kibbutz founded in 1943 on the site of today ' s Alumim and Nahal Oz by immigrants from Czechoslovakia and Germany of the HaPoel HaMizrachi movement . Originally an isolated settlement , it served as a staging point for found three new villages as part of the 11 points in the Negev plan — Kfar Darom , Be ' eri and Tkuma . In the first stage of the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , the Jewish settlements in the Negev desert were put under the command of the Negev Brigade , with Be ' erot Yitzhak falling under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Battalion . Upon termination of the British mandate , the Egyptian army , along with those of several other Arab states , immediately invaded Israel on May 15 , 1948 . The mothers and children of Be ' erot Yitzhak were evacuated the next day , leaving behind about 90 workers and paramilitaries , around 30 of them women . On that day , two Egyptian companies attempted an assault on the village , but turned back after fire was exchanged with the Israelis . Throughout May 1948 , Egypt ' s main force advanced north to the Ad Halom bridge , where it halted after the Israeli Operation Pleshet on June 2 – 3 . Another wing of the Egyptian military positioned itself on the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road and cut off the Israeli - held northern Negev from the rest of the country . Along its main advance path , Egypt succeeded in taking Nitzanim , and Yad Mordechai and Kfar Darom were evacuated by the Israelis . During this period , numerous Jewish villages in the Negev were subject to constant Egyptian air and artillery harassment , Be ' erot Yitzhak being one of them , suffering the hits of approximately 5 , 000 shells . Egypt took the initiative and attacked numerous Israeli positions on July 8 , one day before the first truce was meant to expire . The Israelis , for their part , launched the planned Operation An - Far to reconnect the Negev with the rest of Israel . After failing to capture Negba on July 12 , and taking heavy casualties , the Egyptians turned their attention to more isolated settlements and positions . On July 14 , they sent volunteer units to attack Gal On , which had been used by Israel for raids on the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road and on Bayt Jibrin itself . The attackers met with a minefield and were repelled by the residents of Gal On . Be ' erot Yitzhak was seen as a threat to the Egyptian communication , and was attacked next . Battle . Battle in the village . The Egyptian attack started at 05 : 30 on July 15 , when its Spitfire s made a run on the northern part of the kibbutz , and an artillery barrage followed . The attack came as a complete surprise to the Israelis , who had been busy setting up fortifications . Some of them went to sleep as late as 05 : 00 , a half hour before the first air raid . At 08 : 15 , Egypt ' s 3rd Infantry Battalion , reinforced by about 70 tanks and armored vehicles , hit the village ' s outer positions from the north – northwest . Another force attacked from the southern area and the western gate , but withdrew after being hit by 3 " ( 81 mm ) mortar fire . A shell ignited flammable materials , damaged the northwestern position and killed the four Israelis manning it . The incessant shelling also caused damage to the village ' s water tower . Approximately 100 m in volume , it burst open at about 10 : 00 and flooded defensive trenches and munitions , also hurting communications . All of the 3 " mortar rounds were put out of commission . At 10 : 25 , some 100 Egyptian infantrymen breached the fence there , using a small opening that had been used by the locals , and captured three outlying structures , including the nursery school . Hearing of the situation , Haim Bar - Lev , serving as the acting commander of the Negev Brigade due to the injury of Nahum Sarig , ordered Israel Carmi ( commander of the 9th Battalion ) to send reinforcements . As a result of the breach , the Israeli commander , Shimon Forsher , ordered all residents to retreat to an inner defensive perimeter . At this stage , the Egyptians took control of another line of structures , and entered a stalemate with the Israelis about 30 m away from the inner perimeter . At 10 : 40 Be ' erot Yitzhak reported that its fences had been breached from three directions and were within range of hand grenade s . The Israeli commander was wounded , and his deputy was killed . In a battle for the nursery school , an Israeli PIAT managed to drive out the Egyptian soldiers . Another building was also hit by a PIAT , making the Egyptians withdraw . Despite the successful counterattack , at 11 : 15 the village reported that its situation was critical and they would surrender in half an hour if help would not come . This was repeated at least twice more during the battle . The Egyptians took time to regroup for a final assault on the villages inner defenses , bringing reinforcements . During this reprieve , the defenders repaired the mortars and PIAT that were damaged by the flood and the dust , and made a series of raids on Egypt - held structures . At 14 : 00 , the Egyptians counterattacked but were met with heavy fire and took many casualties . This prompted the Israelis to move their only working communications device to a safer location , but it broke down , and contact with the brigade HQ was only restored at 16 : 00 . At 17 : 00 , the villagers again reported that their situation was critical , and that an attempted counterattack failed . The Negev Brigade intelligence officer , David Niv , intercepted an Egyptian radio message where the commander of the assault claimed to have already taken the village . Movement of the Israeli reinforcements . Israel ' s own reinforcements from the Negev Brigade ' s 9th Battalion were on their way in the meantime . They consisted of a section of two 65 mm " Napoleonchik " field cannons brought from Ruhama under Yoel Ya ' uri , and 9 jeeps and 6 half - track s under Simha Shiloni . The forces left Ruhama at 13 : 00 for the planned staging point at the brigade headquarters at Dorot . Closing in on Be ' erot Yitzhak , the Israeli 9th Battalion forces became the target of Egyptian aerial and artillery attacks , especially when they reached Wadi Hanoun , relieving the kibbutz . In light of these developments , Shiloni decided that he could only advanced the cannons to the vicinity of Be ' erot Yitzhak . He and Ya ' uri took a jeep to reconnoiter for a suitable firing location . They were forced to continue on foot after being attacked by Egyptian aircraft . Shiloni found a location need kibbutz Sa ' ad and also estimated that the Egyptians would be concentrated about 150 m west of Be ' erot Yitzhak . At about 17 : 30 , the Israeli cannons began shelling Egypt ' s armor concentration . One of the first shells scored a direct hit on the armor in the north of the village , and another missed its target , but accidentally hit the path of incoming Egyptian reinforcements , which then turned back . The shelling , which continued almost uninterrupted ( it stopped only when Egypt ' s aircraft fired at the artillery ) , triggered a general retreat . The last Egyptian forces to retreat were the infantry , who were hit by Israeli fire from Be ' erot Yitzhak . Aftermath . In all , 17 Israelis were killed and 15 wounded . The Egyptians had an estimated 200 casualties . Egypt did not attack Be ' erot Yitzhak again , or indeed any other Israeli villages for the remainder of the war . The battle was in fact one of the war ' s last Egyptian offensive initiatives . Egypt made a last - minute attempt to isolate Be ' erot Yitzhak however , by capturing a position connecting it to Sa ' ad in the northeast on July 18 . The Negev Brigade responded by capturing an adjacent position , just before the second truce of the war went into effect . Be ' erot Yitzhak was severely damaged in the battle , and was abandoned by its residents . They re - founded the kibbutz to the south of Petah Tikva in 1952 , where it has remained to this day . The first Nahal settlement , Nahal Oz , was founded in 1951 on the lands of the original Be ' erot Yitzhak .