The Battles of the Separation Corridor (, 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 (, 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.
Background
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.
Israel's military options were pondered by its leadership during the second truce, and the Bernadotte Plan prompted the government and army to decide to concentrate the next effort on the southern front. The Operation, codenamed The Ten Plagues, was meant to open a permanent ground connection to the Negev, and gradually encircle the Egyptian forces in the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin corridor by creating wedges that would deny the Egyptians free movements between their main troop concentrations. This was the approach favored by Yigal Allon, head of the Southern Command, which mostly won over the General Staff's proposals to directly assault the large Egyptian concentrations.
The Junction was an important crossroads between the Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road and the internal Negev road. It was overlooked by kibbutz Negba, the Iraq Suwaydan police fort, and Hills 100, 103 and 113.
Khirbet Masara wedge
On the night of October 15–16, Israeli forces from the Givati Brigade's 53rd Battalion occupied the site of Khirbet Masara and the adjacent Hill 224.9, positions on the road connecting Iraq al-Manshiyya to Bayt Jibrin. On October 17, the site of Khirbet 'Atalla to the northeast was also taken. However, as in the case of the Beit Hanoun wedge, this did not stop the Egyptians from moving from Fallujah and Iraq al-Manshiyya to Bayt Jibrin and Hebron, as they created an alternate path south of the wedge, through Qubeiba. However, the wedge served as a staging point for further Israeli territorial gains, eventually leading to the isolation of Fallujah and Iraq al-Manshiyya in what became known as the Fallujah Pocket.
Battle of Iraq al-Manshiyya
The plan of Operation Yoav called for the creation of a permanent land corridor to the Negev through Iraq al-Manshiyya. The attack was meant to be carried out on October 17, 1948. It was, however, brought forward 24 hours to October 16 after a recommendation by Yitzhak Sadeh, commander of the 8th Armored Brigade. The attack would mark the first time that tanks would be used by Israel in the southern front. The Israelis hoped that Egypt would concentrate its main defenses in Fallujah, the locality that overlooked the vital Junction position, and therefore leave Iraq al-Manshiyya lightly defended. The village's two main positions were a tell just north, and the village school.