At the end of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

's War of Independence

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

 Operation Horev was a large scale attack against the Egyptian army in the Western Negev

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

. Its objective was to trap the Egyptian Army

Egyptian Army

The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...

 in the Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

. The operation started on December 22, 1948 and ended on January 7, 1949, after the British threatened to intervene.

The name is that given in Scripture for Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...

, now the modern range called the Jebel Musa

Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...

("Mount of Moses

Moses

Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

" in Arabic) where the Jews encamped for a year (Exodus 3:1 and Psalms 106:19).

Objectives

The first objective of the offensive was the Egyptian army units defending al-Auja on the Palestinian

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

-Egyptian border. From there the major thrust was to the Egyptian army bases at El-Arish. This would trap the majority of the Egyptian army in the Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

.

The Operation commander was Yigal Alon. Five Israeli Brigades were involved: The 8th Armoured Brigade commanded by Yitzhak Sadeh

Yitzhak Sadeh

Yitzhak Sadeh , was the commander of the Palmach, one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel and a cousin of British philosopher Isaiah Berlin.-Biography:...

; the Negev Brigade

Negev Brigade

The 12th Negev Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade that served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was commanded by Nahum "Sergei" Sarig and consisted of four Palmach battalions...

; the Golani Brigade

Golani Brigade

The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...

; the Harel Brigade

Harel Brigade

Harel Brigade is a reserve brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Northern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.- War of Independence :...

; and the Alexandroni Brigade

Alexandroni Brigade

The Alexandroni Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Along with the 7th Armoured Brigade both units had 139 killed during the first battle of Latrun - Operation Ben Nun Alef .The unit is currently a reserve unit.-Katz controversy:In 1998, Teddy Katz...

 whose task was to maintain the siege of the 4,000 strong Egyptian brigade at Faluja

Al-Faluja

al-Faluja was an Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel...

.
The Egyptian had a further two brigades in the Gaza area, and one more brigade across the border around El-Arish.

The Campaign

On 22 December a battalion from the Golani brigade launched a diversion attack on positions near the Gaza

Gaza

Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

-Rafah

Rafah

Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...

 road.
In preparation for the offensive the Israeli army had been able to clear a route through the desert, by-passing the defences on the Beersheba

Beersheba

Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....

 to al-Auja road. On 27 December 1948 the Armoured Brigade attacked al-Auja from this unexpected quarter. After 24 hours of fighting the Egyptians surrendered in disarray. With this victory Operations Commander Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, and acting Prime Minister of Israel, and was a member of the Knesset and government minister from the 10th through the...

 realised that there were no Egyptian defences left west of el-Arish and was prepared to capture the entire Sinai peninsular. The Negev brigade followed the tanks of the 8th brigade across the Egyptian border on the night of 28 December and moved towards El-Arish. By 30 December 1948 they were on the outskirts of the airfield at el-Arish. At the same time units from the Harel brigade moved further west into Sinai.
On 29 December the United Nations Security Council ordered a cease-fire.

The Outcome

Before he could complete his objective Allon was instructed by David Ben-Gurion

David Ben-Gurion

' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...

 to withdraw from Egypt immediately. The British Government had threatened to invoke the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of Friendship

Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936

The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Egypt; it is officially known as The Treaty of Alliance Between His Majesty, in Respect of the United Kingdom, and His Majesty, the King of Egypt...

 and become directly involved. Under protest but at Ben-Gurion's insistence, the Israelis withdrew. On January 3rd they launched an attack on the Egyptian defences at Rafah

Rafah

Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...

 with the same objective of trapping the Egyptian army. After three days of fighting around Rafah the Egyptian government announced, 6 January 1949, that they were willing to enter armistice negotiations. On the same day the Israeli Air Force

Israeli Air Force

The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...

 shot down five RAF

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 Spitfires on patrol in the area, killing two pilots and taking two prisoner. The British moved reinforcements to Akaba

Akaba

Houessou Akaba was the fourth King of Dahomey. He succeeded his father, Aho Houegbadja, and ruled from 1685 to 1708.- Biography :Akaba's symbols were the warthog and a saber....

. Despite protests from the army Israel accepted the cease-fire on 7 January.

In the final Armistice Agreement al-Auja was made a de-militarized zone.