Operation "An-Far"
The operation named after the Egyptian king, Anti- Faruk was carried out between the 8th and the 11th of July. 'Givati' Brigade occupied: Iraq Swidan, Bait-Affa, and Ibadis, but were force to retreat due to delayed counterattacks. The 'Negev' Brigade forces in charge of occupying the Iraq Swidan Police Station were late in arriving at their destination, command was carried out from afar and the forces were forced to retreat at the break of dawn.
Uzi Narkis led the 7th Battalion attack on the police station. 9th Battalion half-track and jeep companies reinforced the Battalion arriving after midnight in Brur –Hail and continuing on foot to the deployment point. The assignment was scheduled to begin at 03:00 am. The police building was surrounded by 5 barbed-wire fences, while the attack force knew about the existence of only 4 fences. After silently breaking through the fenced area, the force opened fire using a "Flea" mortar (a mobile Davidka) and "Fiat" launchers. Uzi Narkis and his force were located a km from the police building, by the vehicles, while the front command force was located 200 m from the building, unable to communicate with each other due to dysfunctional walkie-talkies. Chaos ruled and the numbers of the wounded rose as the sun came up.
'Givati' force, occupying Iraq-Swidan, covered the retreat with mortars. Some of the forces retreated to Negba and the rest retreated south returning to their camps near Ruhama and Dorot. The number of casualties and wounded was fully discovered only after the forces which retreated to Negba returned to the besieged Negev: 4 casualties and 13 wounded. 2 English and South-African volunteers from the 9th Battalion half-track unit arrived by mistake in Iraq-Swidan and were captured by the Egyptians.
'Negev' Brigade failed to occupy the police station, and the building was finally captured on the 8th attempt by an 8th Brigade force.
'Givati' force, occupying Iraq-Swidan, covered the retreat with mortars. Some of the forces retreated to Negba and the rest retreated south returning to their camps near Ruhama and Dorot. The number of casualties and wounded was fully discovered only after the forces which retreated to Negba returned to the besieged Negev: 4 casualties and 13 wounded. 2 English and South-African volunteers from the 9th Battalion half-track unit arrived by mistake in Iraq-Swidan and were captured by the Egyptians.
'Negev' Brigade failed to occupy the police station, and the building was finally captured on the 8th attempt by an 8th Brigade force.