Battles of the Separation Corridor

The Battles of the Separation Corridor (Hebrew: קְרָבוֹת רְצוּעַת הַנִּתּוּק‎, Kravot Retzu'at HaNituk) were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian army in Operation Yoav, and were the centerpiece of the operation. They took place throughout all of Yoav (October 15–22, 1948), in the strip of land between the Israeli-held Negev enclave and the rest of the country. This area is generally called the Separation Strip in Hebrew.

The battles saw the Israelis set up a permanent land connection with the enclave through the Junction (Hebrew: הַצֹּמֶת‎, HaTzomet, a strategic crossroads west of Negba), Kawkaba and Huleiqat. A wedge was set up at Khirbet Masara (between Fallujah and Bayt Jibrin), in accordance with Operation Yoav's strategy to create wedges to cut off large Egyptian units, however, the wedge was unsuccessful and the Egyptians bypassed it. Attacks on other positions in the corridor, including the Iraq Suwaydan police fort, were also unsuccessful.

The battles, having opened a safe supply route to the Negev, had both political and military significance. It strengthened the Israeli claim to the whole Negev Desert and allowing for much of Israel's conquest in Operation Horev and Operation Uvda in December 1948 – March 1949.

The second truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War started on July 18, 1948, with an Israeli enclave in the Negev disconnected from the rest of the country. Military operations, including An-Far, Death to the Invader and GYS, to create a corridor between the two areas, failed. The United Nations mediator Folke Bernadotte's second plan for Palestine became known on September 20, days after Bernadotte was assassinated by the Lehi. This plan envisioned the Israeli Negev enclave to be handed over to the Arab side.

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