History
The force consisted of three infantry brigades, the Negev Brigade, the Givati Brigade, and the Yiftach Brigade, an armored battalion from the 8th Armored Brigade and the largest artillery formation that had been available to the IDF at the time. On October 18 the Oded Brigade also joined in the operation. In the evening of October 15 the Israeli Air Force bombed Gaza, al-Majdal (now Ashkelon), Beersheba and Beit Hanoun. A battalion of the Yiftach Brigade mined the railroad between El-Arish and Rafah and various roads in the Gaza area, also driving a wedge into the road. Two battalions of the Givati Brigade drove south east of Iraq al-Manshiyya, thus cutting the road between al-Faluja and Beit Jibrin. Beit Jibrin was captured by the 52 Battalion of Givati and the 8th Brigade on October 23.
In the early morning hours of October 21, the Negev Brigade and 8th Armored Brigade laid siege to the city from the west. Another force joined them from the north. Even though in the city proper, the Egyptian forces outnumbered the Israeli 500 to 60, they surrendered after being shelled by an anti-tank gun which was smuggled into the city at 08:00. The conquest of Beersheba was named Operation Moshe, after Moshe Albert, who fell defending the besieged Beit Eshel.
While a truce was ordered for 15:00 hours on 22 October, action in the days immediately following the operation, and associated with it, continued.
According to Jewish historian Benny Morris, soldiers from the 8th Brigade carried out a massacre at al-Dawayima. After the Egyptians retreated southward from Ashdod (October 28) and al-Majdal (November 6) to Gaza, the coastal strip down to Yad Mordechai was occupied by Israeli forces. On 9 November, the Iraq Suwaydan fortress was captured and renamed the Yoav Fortress in honor of the operation.
Towards the end of the operation General Allon sought permission to launch an attack on the Hebron hills and into the Jericho valley. David Ben-Gurion refused, mainly due to a tacit agreement with King Abdullah on the division of the West Bank and the need to avoid British involvement.
The United Nations Refugee Relief Project reported that the Gaza Strip's refugee population had jumped from 100,000 to 230,000 as a result of Operation Yoav. This figure does not include those who fled to the Hebron Hills.
Read more about this topic: Operation Yoav
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