Operation "Pharaoh"
The few 'Negev' Brigade available forces aided the Kibbutzim under attack during the first week of the Egyptian invasion. The 7th Battalion, 2 raiding jeep companies and the 'Negev Animals' participated in operation 'Pharaoh', during which cannon batteries and the advancing Egyptian force rear were raided.
'The raiding unit', including 2 jeep companies and the 7th Battalion were sent to the Negev a week after the Egyptian invasion in order to reinforce Brigade available units and defense assignments. On the 25th of May, they participated in operation 'Pharaoh' after only one day of training. They targeted the Egyptian force in the Gaza airfield and 2 cannon batteries south of Bait-Hanun and east of Gaza, near Gaza-Ritz. On the night of the 25th of May, a 'Givati' force attacked the border of Majdal and the air force bombarded Gaza as a diversion.
Raids on the airfield east of Gaza:
Be'erot Yizhak scouts led 15 jeeps under the command of Israel Carmi to the airfield, where they deployed opposite the camp and the eastern buildings of Gaza. The Company's light MMG fire was responded by Egyptian fire, forcing the force moving along the exposed landing strip to return to camp.
Raids on the cannon battery south of Bait Hanun:
'Negev Animals' and 2 jeeps under the command of Simcha Shiloni, raided a battery of 25 pound cannons, a 6 pound cannon and an armored vehicle south of Bait-Hanun. The force approached the target undetected, attacked the cannon posts killing 25 artillerymen, while the rest managed to escape. The enemy returned fire from the near by hills and Bait-Hanun, wounding 3 fighters and killing the Platoon Commander and another fighter. An attempt to tow the cannons to Israeli territory failed, and further attempts to sabotage the cannons failed due to lack of explosives. The force retreated together with its wounded after lowering hand grenades down the gun barrels and sabotaging the bearing devices.
The Gaza-Ritz raid was canceled due to a truck turning over near Ruhama, during which 15 of the 7th Battalion sabotage Platoon fighters were killed. In spite of the outcome reflecting the urgency and the units defective organization, operation 'Pharaoh' and other raids over the road and the railway tracks in the Rafiah sector, troubled the Egyptians, causing them to establish a militia for the soul purpose of securing the invasion axis.
Raids on the airfield east of Gaza:
Be'erot Yizhak scouts led 15 jeeps under the command of Israel Carmi to the airfield, where they deployed opposite the camp and the eastern buildings of Gaza. The Company's light MMG fire was responded by Egyptian fire, forcing the force moving along the exposed landing strip to return to camp.
Raids on the cannon battery south of Bait Hanun:
'Negev Animals' and 2 jeeps under the command of Simcha Shiloni, raided a battery of 25 pound cannons, a 6 pound cannon and an armored vehicle south of Bait-Hanun. The force approached the target undetected, attacked the cannon posts killing 25 artillerymen, while the rest managed to escape. The enemy returned fire from the near by hills and Bait-Hanun, wounding 3 fighters and killing the Platoon Commander and another fighter. An attempt to tow the cannons to Israeli territory failed, and further attempts to sabotage the cannons failed due to lack of explosives. The force retreated together with its wounded after lowering hand grenades down the gun barrels and sabotaging the bearing devices.
The Gaza-Ritz raid was canceled due to a truck turning over near Ruhama, during which 15 of the 7th Battalion sabotage Platoon fighters were killed. In spite of the outcome reflecting the urgency and the units defective organization, operation 'Pharaoh' and other raids over the road and the railway tracks in the Rafiah sector, troubled the Egyptians, causing them to establish a militia for the soul purpose of securing the invasion axis.