1 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:17,550 In one of our previous videos on modern warfare, we covered the Six-Day War between Israeli 2 00:00:17,550 --> 00:00:22,080 and the Arab States surrounding it, but this wasn’t the first time the adversaries had 3 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:26,679 clashed. In the aftermath of World War II, British withdrawal 4 00:00:26,679 --> 00:00:33,259 from its Mandate in Palestine split open a power vacuum into Palestinian and Jewish interests 5 00:00:33,259 --> 00:00:38,750 flowed. This eventually resulted in the dawn of Jewish statehood in the Middle-East and 6 00:00:38,750 --> 00:00:43,060 the First Arab-Israeli War.  Welcome to our series on 7 00:00:43,060 --> 00:00:47,359 the modern warfare! If you are interested in the history of this era, don’t forget 8 00:00:47,359 --> 00:00:50,780 to check out our second channel – The Cold War – the link 9 00:00:52,561 --> 00:00:57,911 Tensions between Arab Palestinian and Jewish communities in the British Mandate of Palestine 10 00:00:57,911 --> 00:01:02,891 had been increasing ever since the end of the First World War, heightened with broken 11 00:01:02,890 --> 00:01:07,030 Imperial promises to both sides. This state of affairs 12 00:01:07,031 --> 00:01:10,831 finally exploded into civil war following the UN vote 13 00:01:10,831 --> 00:01:18,281 for a partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states on November 29th 1947, a solution 14 00:01:18,281 --> 00:01:22,331 which the Palestinians and the Arab League refused. 15 00:01:22,331 --> 00:01:29,751 As small-scale skirmishes gradually escalated throughout late 1947 and early 1948, Palestinian 16 00:01:29,751 --> 00:01:35,481 Arab group - the Arab Liberation Army proved incapable of defeating their better organised 17 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,950 opponents. Due to the chaos, tens of thousands of 18 00:01:38,950 --> 00:01:44,230 Palestinian refugees fled into neighboring Arab states, further enflaming the public 19 00:01:44,230 --> 00:01:48,580 of those countries to demand war. A full-scale conflict 20 00:01:48,581 --> 00:01:52,421 was prevented until in May of 1948, as the area 21 00:01:52,421 --> 00:01:58,731 was still a British Mandate, but this state of affairs was set to expire on the 15th. 22 00:01:58,730 --> 00:02:03,870 At 4PM on the afternoon of May 14th 1948, eight hours before 23 00:02:03,870 --> 00:02:09,270 British sovereignty dissolved, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State 24 00:02:09,270 --> 00:02:13,900 of Israel, becoming its first prime minister. That night, 25 00:02:13,901 --> 00:02:19,311 armies of five Arab nations surrounding Israel attacked the newly created state, starting 26 00:02:19,311 --> 00:02:24,491 the First Arab-Israeli War. 27 00:02:24,491 --> 00:02:29,211 While it has been popular to tout the phrase ‘one army against seven’ to describe the 28 00:02:29,211 --> 00:02:32,151 military situation, it gives off an impression which 29 00:02:32,151 --> 00:02:38,511 is incorrect - that the combined Arab nations drastically outnumbered their enemy. A breakdown 30 00:02:38,510 --> 00:02:44,930 instead shows that the total strength of about 23,500 soldiers, 10,000 of which were from 31 00:02:44,931 --> 00:02:50,931 the Egyptian army. Egypt possessed the most extensive military establishment in the region 32 00:02:50,931 --> 00:02:56,320 which had also been supplied and trained by Britain. Their ground forces were organised 33 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:03,020 into three infantry brigades, one tank brigade comprising 50 tanks and three artillery battalions 34 00:03:03,020 --> 00:03:06,941 armed with 65 howitzer artillery pieces. In the 35 00:03:06,941 --> 00:03:14,390 air, Egypt could field five squadrons of 18 fighting aircraft each and one transport squadron. 36 00:03:14,389 --> 00:03:15,389 Iraq 37 00:03:15,389 --> 00:03:20,840 appeared similarly powerful on the surface, but only sent 3,000 men in the initial attack. 38 00:03:20,841 --> 00:03:23,280 The bulk of Iraqi ground forces were structured 39 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,800 in three divisions - two infantry and one ‘training’ 40 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:33,389 division, supported by an armoured battalion of 15 to 20 tanks and 70 to 80 artillery pieces. 41 00:03:33,389 --> 00:03:37,400 The Iraqi airforce consisted of 80 aircraft overall, 42 00:03:37,401 --> 00:03:39,880 but only half of these were fully operational and 43 00:03:39,879 --> 00:03:46,370 combat ready. In addition, the relatively elite Arab Legion 44 00:03:46,371 --> 00:03:50,432 of Transjordan supplied 4,500 well trained, British- 45 00:03:50,431 --> 00:03:57,379 led soldiers. 3,000 more came from Lebanon, 3,000 from Syria and a token contingent from 46 00:03:57,379 --> 00:04:03,530 Saudi Arabia. In comparison to the efforts of their Arab enemies, the Israelis had mobilised 47 00:04:03,530 --> 00:04:09,229 almost their entire resource base and able-bodied population for the conflict, having, according 48 00:04:09,229 --> 00:04:17,331 to Ben-Gurion’s diary, 29,677 troops at the outbreak of the war. Israel had only 49 00:04:17,331 --> 00:04:23,100 3 Sherman tanks at the start of the conflict. 50 00:04:23,100 --> 00:04:27,961 On the southern front, Egyptian forces launched thrusts across the border from eastern Sinai 51 00:04:27,961 --> 00:04:32,121 in a three-pronged assault. The Egyptian command, 52 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,800 under the authority of General Ahmed Ali al- Muwawi, believed it necessary to capture a 53 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,830 number of strongpoints in order to secure the rear 54 00:04:39,831 --> 00:04:44,980 lines. To this end, forces were committed to assault and capture a number of Jewish 55 00:04:44,980 --> 00:04:48,379 communities in the northern Negev region, known plurally 56 00:04:48,379 --> 00:04:52,589 as kibbutzim. The first target was Kfar-Darom, a 57 00:04:52,589 --> 00:04:58,589 religious 10 kilometres to the south of Gaza. This settlement had already withstood an attack 58 00:04:58,589 --> 00:05:01,389 by fighters of the Muslim Brothers group, and 59 00:05:01,389 --> 00:05:05,190 it now came under attack from the Egyptian army. 60 00:05:05,190 --> 00:05:10,369 After an initial artillery barrage, eight tanks followed by infantry approached Kfar-Darom, 61 00:05:10,370 --> 00:05:13,819 but retreated in short order after suffering repeated 62 00:05:13,819 --> 00:05:20,980 direct hits from the settlement’s only PIAT projector and being pelted with molotov cocktails. Similar 63 00:05:20,980 --> 00:05:25,181 stiff resistance was faced at the neighboring kibbutz of Nirim, where around 64 00:05:25,180 --> 00:05:28,009 40 entrenched Israeli defenders managed to repel 65 00:05:28,009 --> 00:05:34,360 sustained assaults from a thousand Egyptian troops supported by artillery and mortar fire. 66 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,889 Both settlements were eventually bypassed for fear 67 00:05:36,889 --> 00:05:41,069 of stalling the main thrust. As these initial ground 68 00:05:41,069 --> 00:05:47,129 attacks were going on, airfields around Tel-Aviv were attacked by Egyptian Spitfires, causing 69 00:05:47,129 --> 00:05:53,089 heavy economic damage and moral damage. However, the fortune of Egypt’s pilots soon turned 70 00:05:53,089 --> 00:05:58,550 due to improving Israeli air defence and an accidental strike on the British held Ramat 71 00:05:58,550 --> 00:06:01,461 David Airfield, which led to heavy losses at the 72 00:06:01,461 --> 00:06:05,449 hands of British fighter aircraft. By the end of May, 73 00:06:05,449 --> 00:06:10,089 almost all of the Spitfire squadron’s planes and a significant number of its best pilots 74 00:06:10,089 --> 00:06:14,369 were lost. On land, a meticulously planned offensive 75 00:06:14,370 --> 00:06:19,521 was launched against the kibbutz of Yad-Moerdechai, which was situated atop a hill which held 76 00:06:19,521 --> 00:06:23,689 a dominating position over the main coastal road. Its 77 00:06:23,689 --> 00:06:31,300 defenders held out for five days and inflicted heavy casualties before falling back. 78 00:06:31,300 --> 00:06:36,560 The advancing Egyptian column aiming for Tel-Aviv came to a halt around 30 kilometres south 79 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:43,180 of the city at a place called Isdud, where it dug in. Just before sunset on May 29th, 80 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:46,259 the newly formed Israeli Defense Forces launched Operation 81 00:06:46,259 --> 00:06:52,009 Pleshet, beginning with an air attack by a squadron of four recently imported Czech Avia 82 00:06:52,009 --> 00:06:58,480 S-199. They strafed Isdud in an assault which, while being ineffective conventionally, had 83 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,319 a drastic impact on morale. The Israelis were elated 84 00:07:02,319 --> 00:07:08,069 that they now had air capability, while the Egyptians were extremely unnerved of future 85 00:07:08,069 --> 00:07:11,879 attacks from above. The next blow was struck on the 86 00:07:11,879 --> 00:07:17,540 ground. Israel feared that the Egyptians would resume their advance on Tel-Aviv, and ordered 87 00:07:17,540 --> 00:07:20,320 the Giv’ati and Negev Brigades to assault and 88 00:07:20,321 --> 00:07:27,040 destroy the enemy vanguard. 2,000 Israelis fought a 2,500 strong force of entrenched 89 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,131 Egyptian troops, suffering heavy casualties after only 90 00:07:30,130 --> 00:07:34,600 making slight gains. Nevertheless, Operation Pleshet 91 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:39,550 panicked the Egyptian command, with General Al-Muwawi informing Cairo that he ‘could 92 00:07:39,550 --> 00:07:42,360 not advance one step further’ without risking 93 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,350 total disaster. Any plans of advancing on Tel-Aviv 94 00:07:46,350 --> 00:07:52,649 were cancelled, and the Southern front bogged down. 95 00:07:52,649 --> 00:07:58,540 On the Jordanian front, ‘Etzioni, Palmah Harel and Alexandroni Brigades each responsible 96 00:07:58,540 --> 00:08:01,370 for defending different areas were facing the 97 00:08:01,370 --> 00:08:04,370 Arab Legion. The Legion’s push into the West Bank 98 00:08:04,370 --> 00:08:10,230 was initially relatively unopposed, with many left-behind Legion units in Palestine facilitating 99 00:08:10,230 --> 00:08:16,029 easy progress, While the First Brigade advanced towards Nablus and fanned out around the 100 00:08:16,029 --> 00:08:22,230 town, the Third Brigade headed north from Jericho and then west, deploying around Ramallah. 101 00:08:22,230 --> 00:08:27,550 Two days later, the Third Brigade’s Fourth Regiment was ordered to the critical fort 102 00:08:27,550 --> 00:08:30,810 of Latrun - located right on top of the western approach 103 00:08:30,810 --> 00:08:34,480 to Jerusalem. This key point had switched hands 104 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:40,500 between Arab forces and Jews multiple times just before the Mandate expired, but was occupied 105 00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:46,149 by the Fourth Regiment without any trouble. So, on May 18th, the road from the coastal 106 00:08:46,149 --> 00:08:49,461 plain to Jerusalem was severed, preventing the Israelis 107 00:08:49,461 --> 00:08:52,120 from reinforcing or resupplying their troops in 108 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:57,941 besieged Jerusalem. Around the city itself to north and south, fighting was extremely 109 00:08:57,941 --> 00:09:04,259 fierce.  Jewish forces successfully repelled Jordanian 110 00:09:04,259 --> 00:09:09,230 assaults at the Notre Dame Cathedral on the northern approaches, while a combined Arab 111 00:09:09,230 --> 00:09:11,990 force - assisted by an Egyptian contingent of 112 00:09:11,990 --> 00:09:17,912 several hundred, attacked the Ramat Rachel kibbutz from the south on May 21st. The settlement 113 00:09:17,912 --> 00:09:24,571 was taken and retaken until it was eventually secured by the defenders on May 25th. While 114 00:09:24,571 --> 00:09:29,681 Jewish Jerusalem held its ground against the persistent Legion attacks, the Jewish Quarter 115 00:09:29,681 --> 00:09:33,280 of the Old City surrendered on May 28th, with only 116 00:09:33,279 --> 00:09:39,870 36 of its 300 fighters still capable of fighting. Under the terms of surrender, civilians were 117 00:09:39,870 --> 00:09:45,540 allowed to leave for Israeli-held West Jerusalem, while soldiers and men of fighting age would 118 00:09:45,541 --> 00:09:51,051 become prisoners of war. The professional Legionnaires protected them against the locals, 119 00:09:51,051 --> 00:09:57,140 even using the lethal force, escorting their defeated foe to safety. Realising the situation 120 00:09:57,139 --> 00:10:02,691 in the Holy City was worsening, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion ordered Israeli forces to assault 121 00:10:02,691 --> 00:10:05,590 the Legion-garrisoned Latrun fort and break through 122 00:10:05,590 --> 00:10:14,350 to Jerusalem. On May 25th, May 30th and June 9 th IDF launched ultimately disastrous assaults, 123 00:10:14,350 --> 00:10:20,701 often by untrained troops against entrenched Jordanian fighters. By June 10th, an alternative 124 00:10:20,701 --> 00:10:25,931 route to West Jerusalem had been opened which was dubbed the ‘Burma Road’, nicknamed 125 00:10:25,931 --> 00:10:28,271 after the British World War II supply route against 126 00:10:28,270 --> 00:10:35,100 the Japanese. In Galilee, the first phase of the war saw 127 00:10:35,100 --> 00:10:38,600 Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese forces launching attacks into 128 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:44,061 the former Mandate. After suffering some heavy casualties advancing through the upper Jordan 129 00:10:44,061 --> 00:10:49,541 Valley, an Iraqi army of one armoured and two infantry brigades set up in the Samaria 130 00:10:49,541 --> 00:10:54,081 region, between the towns of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm. 131 00:10:54,081 --> 00:10:59,149 This force launched an assault towards Natanya from these positions on May 25 th 132 00:10:59,149 --> 00:11:02,129 ended in defeat, but the prospect that an Iraqi 133 00:11:02,129 --> 00:11:07,200 breakthrough could slice the Jewish state in two worried high command so much that it 134 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:11,070 ordered a counterattack on May 29th, aimed at occupying 135 00:11:11,070 --> 00:11:14,951 strong defensive positions opposite the Iraqis. In 136 00:11:14,951 --> 00:11:20,210 the Battle of Jenin, Israeli forces occupied the city, but were subsequently dislodged 137 00:11:20,210 --> 00:11:24,120 after three days of heavy fighting. Similarly, to their 138 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,110 Egyptian allies, this pyrrhic victory panicked the Iraqi 139 00:11:27,110 --> 00:11:34,340 forces and dissuaded them from attacking again. Even further north, a Syrian force comprising 140 00:11:34,340 --> 00:11:39,960 an infantry brigade, a mechanised battalion, an artillery regiment and a company of tanks 141 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,421 crossed into Israel on May 15th, seeking to storm 142 00:11:43,421 --> 00:11:46,561 a cluster of kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee before 143 00:11:46,561 --> 00:11:52,791 pushing into the Jewish heartland. The kibbutzim resisted far longer than anticipated and the 144 00:11:52,791 --> 00:11:59,090 Syrians captured Zemakh only on the 18 th . Despite this success, the Syrians failed 145 00:11:59,090 --> 00:12:02,509 to occupy Degania, and this setback eventually forced 146 00:12:02,509 --> 00:12:09,620 a withdrawal from Zemakh. They subsequently redeployed in the hills to the east. Finally, 147 00:12:09,620 --> 00:12:15,490 Lebanese forces crossed the border and captured Malkiya on May 15th, lost it on the 18th, 148 00:12:15,490 --> 00:12:18,790 and then finally recaptured it on June 6th, only four 149 00:12:18,791 --> 00:12:24,121 days before the first truce began. 150 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:30,319 The four-week UN backed truce started on June 11th was beneficial for both sides, which 151 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,181 began to break the terms immediately. The Arab armies 152 00:12:34,181 --> 00:12:39,121 were in desperate need of reorganisation and replenishment, but their efforts in bolstering 153 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,061 the war effort was nothing compared to that of the 154 00:12:42,061 --> 00:12:47,671 Israelis. What had previously been the semi-legal Haganah concluded its transformation from 155 00:12:47,671 --> 00:12:50,431 an underground militia into a fully-fledged army 156 00:12:50,431 --> 00:12:56,871 during the truce in terms of command and control capacity, manpower potential and weaponry. 157 00:12:56,870 --> 00:13:04,399 The IDF doubled its numbers from around 35,000 to 65,000. More crucial, however, were the 158 00:13:04,399 --> 00:13:07,279 massive quantities of badly-needed armament which 159 00:13:07,279 --> 00:13:14,899 reached Israeli shores. 25,000 rifles, 5,000 machine guns and more than 50 million rounds 160 00:13:14,899 --> 00:13:18,020 of ammunition from Czechoslovakia, in addition 161 00:13:18,020 --> 00:13:20,990 to heavier equipment such as tanks, heavy artillery 162 00:13:20,990 --> 00:13:26,980 and armoured cars. Because of this transformation, the army facing the Arabs after the truce 163 00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:29,389 was massively different from the force they had 164 00:13:29,389 --> 00:13:32,960 met on May 15th. One British official stated that 165 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:38,091 “The Arabs lost the initiative in Palestine during the four weeks, and the Jews were able 166 00:13:38,091 --> 00:13:41,411 to re- equip themselves.”. This fact allowed the 167 00:13:41,410 --> 00:13:44,550 IDF to subsequently seize the initiative as the first 168 00:13:44,551 --> 00:13:51,541 truce ended. The day before hostilities were due to resume, 169 00:13:51,541 --> 00:13:53,780 Egyptian forces in the south launched a series of 170 00:13:53,779 --> 00:13:59,370 attacks to solidify their stranglehold on the Negev region. However, they were quickly 171 00:13:59,370 --> 00:14:06,280 counterattacked by the IDF and spent the subsequent 8 days in heavy fighting for the region. Just 172 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:12,149 before the second truce on the 18th, the Israeli forces managed to break through Egyptian lines, 173 00:14:12,149 --> 00:14:18,000 tenuously linking the isolated Jewish Negev settlements with the heartland. Nevertheless, 174 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,660 attacks on Jewish convoys were quite frequent. In 175 00:14:21,660 --> 00:14:24,930 the north, Israeli armies launched an assault on Syrian 176 00:14:24,931 --> 00:14:30,051 positions near Mishmar-Hayarden in an attempt to push the enemy back over the Jordan River 177 00:14:30,051 --> 00:14:33,751 on the 9th. This failed, but a subsequent offensive 178 00:14:33,750 --> 00:14:39,009 dubbed Operation Dekel brought Lower Galilee under control from Haifa Bay to the Sea of 179 00:14:39,009 --> 00:14:43,471 Galilee. The main IDF offensive, known as Operation 180 00:14:43,471 --> 00:14:49,620 Danny, was directed against the Arab Legion on the Jordanian front. Israeli forces, led 181 00:14:49,620 --> 00:14:52,471 by General Yigal Allon, launched a pincer maneuver 182 00:14:52,471 --> 00:14:59,370 from southwest and northwest, occupying Lydda, then Ramle and the springs at Ras el-Ein. 183 00:14:59,370 --> 00:15:05,990 When the second UN organised truth went into effect on July 18th, the IDF had gained 1,000 184 00:15:05,990 --> 00:15:08,949 square kilometres of territory and Arab pressure on 185 00:15:08,950 --> 00:15:16,700 Jerusalem had been reduced.  After UN attempts at negotiating a peace settlement 186 00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:21,501 during the second truce failed, the war entered its most intense phase on October 187 00:15:21,500 --> 00:15:25,721 15th. Despite Egyptian weakness and overextension on 188 00:15:25,721 --> 00:15:30,681 the southern front, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion realised that he needed to seize the sparsely 189 00:15:30,681 --> 00:15:36,971 populated Negev region if his Jewish State was to be secure in the long term. As things 190 00:15:36,971 --> 00:15:40,100 stood, the frontline was far too close to Israel’s 191 00:15:40,100 --> 00:15:43,791 core on the Mediterranean coast. Under the command of 192 00:15:43,791 --> 00:15:49,151 General Yigal Allon, Operation Yoav was planned, comprising three infantry brigades with 193 00:15:49,150 --> 00:15:55,660 artillery and air support. Facing them was a 15,000 strong, well-fortified Egyptian army 194 00:15:55,660 --> 00:15:59,401 which possessed heavy firepower. Nevertheless, despite 195 00:15:59,402 --> 00:16:06,421 its good position, the lack of the defensive depth was a vulnerability. At 6PM on the 15th, 196 00:16:06,421 --> 00:16:11,211 the Israeli airforce of 4 Czech Avia S-199s, 7 197 00:16:11,211 --> 00:16:17,411 Spitfires and 3 B-17 bombers hit the Egyptian airfield at El’Arish and key targets in 198 00:16:17,410 --> 00:16:21,310 Gaza and Majdal from above. This air attack achieved 199 00:16:21,311 --> 00:16:27,411 complete surprise, and the IAFs superior airmen would subsequently ensure superiority in the 200 00:16:27,410 --> 00:16:31,200 skies through the operation. Unfortunately, some of 201 00:16:31,201 --> 00:16:36,451 the bombing runs were off-target and many refugees were accidentally killed at the village 202 00:16:36,451 --> 00:16:39,541 of al- Jura, one of many occasions civilians would 203 00:16:39,541 --> 00:16:43,551 become unintentional casualties during this war. 204 00:16:43,551 --> 00:16:49,661 The ground attack of Yoav began in the evening, with multiple thrusts into Israeli lines. 205 00:16:49,660 --> 00:16:52,220 Fighting continued for around a week, and by the time 206 00:16:52,221 --> 00:16:58,311 it was over on the 22nd, had driven the Egyptians from their coastal positions from Isdud to 207 00:16:58,311 --> 00:17:02,091 Gaza and expelled them from the Judean and Hebron 208 00:17:02,091 --> 00:17:08,171 hills. Their extended line of defence had been shattered and the capital of Negev - Beersheba 209 00:17:08,171 --> 00:17:09,171 fell 210 00:17:09,171 --> 00:17:15,221 to the IDF. To make the Egyptian situation worse, an entire 4,000 strong brigade had 211 00:17:15,221 --> 00:17:17,401 been trapped in what would come to be known as 212 00:17:17,401 --> 00:17:20,541 the Faluja pocket. They would stay trapped for the 213 00:17:20,540 --> 00:17:27,650 remainder of the war.  On the seas, minor battles took place between 214 00:17:27,651 --> 00:17:33,510 Israeli and Egyptian corvettes near Majdal. However, a more significant operation on the 215 00:17:33,510 --> 00:17:39,620 22nd saw an IDF commando group use explosive- packed boats to ram the Egyptian flagship 216 00:17:39,621 --> 00:17:45,511 Emir Farouk, sinking it and damaging its minesweeper escort. Buoyed by their successes 217 00:17:45,510 --> 00:17:48,120 in the south, Operation Hiram was launched in 218 00:17:48,121 --> 00:17:55,151 Galilee by four infantry brigades led by General Moshe Carmel. In some 60 hours of fighting, 219 00:17:55,151 --> 00:18:01,161 800 Arab fighters were and taken Prisoner. Israeli troops managed to expel the ALA and 220 00:18:01,161 --> 00:18:04,030 a Syrian battalion from Upper Galilee and also 221 00:18:04,030 --> 00:18:07,681 drove all Lebanese soldiers out of Israel. They 222 00:18:07,681 --> 00:18:13,270 subsequently thrust 5 miles into Lebanon, capturing numerous border villages and reaching 223 00:18:13,270 --> 00:18:16,540 as far as the Litani River before coming to a halt 224 00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:20,560 when yet another UN ceasefire came into effect. The 225 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:25,880 fronts largely quietened down at this point as the two sides once again stopped to catch 226 00:18:25,881 --> 00:18:29,771 their breath. In Operations Hiram and Yoav, the 227 00:18:29,770 --> 00:18:32,320 IDF had expanded Israel’s holdings, demolished the 228 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:38,442 ALA, badly blasted apart the Egyptians and had linked the Negev settlements with the 229 00:18:38,442 --> 00:18:41,901 Jewish heartland. It was a positive turn, but there 230 00:18:41,901 --> 00:18:48,961 was still work to do.  The strains of extensive Israeli mobilisation 231 00:18:48,961 --> 00:18:52,341 was becoming economically untenable. The war had 232 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:57,800 to be ended, but the status quo, especially on the southern front, was still unacceptable 233 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,790 to Jewish leaders. Egypt remained in control of the 234 00:19:01,790 --> 00:19:07,520 Gaza strip and Faluja pocket areas of Mandatory Palestine, fortified in a chain of strong 235 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,070 points between 'Auja al-Hafir and Bir Aslug - just south 236 00:19:11,070 --> 00:19:16,750 of Beersheba. However, its army was on the verge of collapse, and realistically had to 237 00:19:16,750 --> 00:19:19,770 either withdraw from Palestine completely or conclude 238 00:19:19,770 --> 00:19:26,240 a peace with Israel. Neither of these methods succeeded due to political pressures. So, 239 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,040 hoping to push the Arab enemy off the soil Israel 240 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:35,560 viewed as its own, Operation Horev began on December 22nd. It was initiated by air and 241 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,180 artillery strikes on positions along the Mediterranean 242 00:19:38,181 --> 00:19:41,571 coast and Gaza strip, followed by initial ground 243 00:19:41,570 --> 00:19:47,050 attacks on the northern part of the front. Fighting at locations such as Hill 86 and 244 00:19:47,050 --> 00:19:50,490 ‘Abasan was inconclusive due to strong Egyptian defences, 245 00:19:50,490 --> 00:19:54,310 but it didn’t matter - these attacks were a 246 00:19:54,310 --> 00:20:00,300 diversion. Egyptian commanders had concentrated its forces just where the IDF wanted them 247 00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:04,530 to.  Israel’s main thrust was to be made against 248 00:20:04,530 --> 00:20:11,060 fortifications at Bir Tamila and ‘Auja al-Hafir. Despite initial problems due to inclement 249 00:20:11,060 --> 00:20:13,990 weather, the highly mobile Eighth and Negev Brigades 250 00:20:13,990 --> 00:20:19,800 penetrated thin Egyptian lines with relative ease. Aiming to execute a vast encirclement 251 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,830 maneuver which would either trap the enemy armies or force them to retreat, IDF units 252 00:20:24,830 --> 00:20:27,830 pushed towards el-Arish and launched raids deep into 253 00:20:27,830 --> 00:20:34,170 the Sinai Peninsula. This was a stunning success and Egypt’s defeated army was made to retreat 254 00:20:34,171 --> 00:20:36,901 into their own lands as far as Abu Ageila in the 255 00:20:36,901 --> 00:20:42,801 centre and el-Arish in the north, else it risked being cut off. 256 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:48,840 However, diplomatic pressure from Britain forced a withdrawal from Egyptian territory 257 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,370 after one final attack against Rafah, bottling the Egyptian 258 00:20:52,371 --> 00:20:59,201 army inside the Gaza Strip and capturing the high ground around the town. By now, the Egyptian 259 00:20:59,201 --> 00:21:04,641 government had realised the threat its forces faced and, on the 6th of January, announced 260 00:21:04,641 --> 00:21:07,990 its intention to enter peace negotiations. On the 261 00:21:07,990 --> 00:21:14,911 following day, the guns on Israel’s southern front fell silent. On February 24th, Israeli 262 00:21:14,911 --> 00:21:17,760 signed a treaty ending hostilities, granting Egypt 263 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:22,230 the Gaza Strip and Israel the Negev region. Now the 264 00:21:22,230 --> 00:21:28,020 largest Arab nation had come to the table, the others soon followed. Negotiations with 265 00:21:28,020 --> 00:21:31,721 Lebanon began on March 3rd and were successfully concluded 266 00:21:31,721 --> 00:21:36,971 in three weeks - the international border was respected and Israel would withdraw from 267 00:21:36,971 --> 00:21:40,921 any occupied Lebanese territory. Jordanian talks 268 00:21:40,921 --> 00:21:46,101 concluded on April 3rd, with King Abdullah retaining control of the West Bank and East 269 00:21:46,101 --> 00:21:52,301 Jerusalem. Finally, after some difficulties due to internal strife, Syria signed an armistice 270 00:21:52,300 --> 00:21:56,902 on July 20th. This peace was tenuous, and the Israeli 271 00:21:56,902 --> 00:22:00,181 victory made future conflict in the region inevitable. 272 00:22:00,181 --> 00:22:06,841 We are planning to cover more modern conflicts both on the Kings and Generals and our second 273 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,630 channel The Cold War – the link to which you can find in the description or in the 274 00:22:10,631 --> 00:22:13,651 top right corner, so make sure you are subscribed to 275 00:22:13,651 --> 00:22:16,721 both. We would like to express our gratitude to our 276 00:22:16,721 --> 00:22:21,290 Patreon supporters and channel members, who make the creation of our videos possible. 277 00:22:21,290 --> 00:22:24,790 Now, you can also support us by buying our merchandise 278 00:22:24,790 --> 00:22:29,721 via the link in the description. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch 279 00:22:29,721 --> 00:22:30,820 you on the next one.