The Battles of Bir 'Asluj refer to a series of military engagements between Israel and Egypt in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, around the localities Bir 'Asluj and the nearby Bir Thamila (also Bir Tamila or Bir Tmileh). Bir 'Asluj was a small Bedouin center and a strategic location on the 'Auja–Beersheba road. The Israelis captured the position early in the war, in an attempt to disconnect the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood forces from the main Egyptian Army concentration on the coastal plain, but set up positions across the road and the threat to their transport was neutralized.
The entire vicinity of Bir 'Asluj, including Bir Thamila, was captured by Israeli Negev Brigade forces on December 25–26, 1948, during Operation Horev. In the first stage, the 7th Battalion took Bir Thamila, but failed to reach the road and retreated with heavy losses. In the morning, armored vehicles from the 9th Battalion assaulted the Egyptian road positions and captured them. This was later followed by the conquest of the entire road to the border at 'Auja, expelling the Egyptian forces from Israel in this region.
Background
Bir 'Asluj was a small Bedouin center belonging to the Azzazma tribe, with a mosque, market, water well, mill and police station. It was strategically located on a curve in the road from Sinai Peninsula, through 'Auja, to Be'er Sheva, Hebron and Jerusalem. Near it also passed the old southern railway line built by the Ottoman Empire in World War I. During the British Mandate, a British military base and a police station were located next to Bir 'Asluj. The road in question was used by the invading Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War for transport as its eastern wing into Hebron-Jerusalem corridor.
During the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, Bir 'Asluj was used as a base of operations for Bedouin paramilitary forces under Hajj Sa'id, mainly against the nearby Jewish villages of Revivim and Haluza, a few kilometers to the northwest. A Muslim Brotherhood unit situated itself in Bir 'Asluj on May 17, 1948.
Battle of June 11
The first Israeli attempt to disconnect the eastern wing of the Egyptian army was during the first stage of the war, right before the first ceasefire came into effect. Forces from the Negev Brigade's 8th Battalion assembled at Revivim, which also served as the headquarters of the 8th Battalion. A jeep-mounted task force split south, in order to block the road for Egyptian reinforcements. During the same night, an Egyptian supply convoy had entered Bir 'Asluj with ammunition and cannons.
Two other small forces split from the main Israeli group—one to the east to mine the road, and a mortar contingent that went northwards to harass Beersheba and divert the attention of the Egyptians from the main attack. The Israeli attack started at 05:30, lasting until 07:00 and ending in a victory. Five Israelis and an estimated 25 Egyptians were killed. Fourteen Egyptians were captured. However, a team of Negev Brigade troops then entered the police station, which was booby trapped, and 10 were instantly killed.
Immediately after the battle, when the first truce came into effect, the Egyptians set up positions on the other side of the road and created a new path that would not be in range of the Israelis, thus denying the Israelis of achieving their strategic objective. During the truce, Egypt strengthened its hold on the al-Majdal – Bayt Jibrin road to the north, giving its forces a safe corridor between the western wing (on the Mediterranean coast) and eastern wing, and at the same time blocking Israeli transport to the Negev, making it an enclave. The next Israeli–Egyptian battles were therefore concentrated in that area. A skirmish took place in Bir 'Asluj on July 18, 1948; Egyptian forces attacked the Israeli positions but were repulsed.
December battle
Prelude
The third and final stage of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War started on October 15, 1948, when Israel launched Operation Yoav on the southern front. While the Israelis made significant tactical and strategic gains in Operation Yoav (for example, reconnecting the Negev, that was an enclave for several months), the political situation changed little and Egypt was still dragging its feet on proposed armistice talks. Operation Horev was therefore launched in the south with the final aim of expelling all Egyptian forces from Israel. The main thrust of the operation was planned to be towards the eastern arm, with the final aim of cutting the western wing of the Egyptian army off from the bulk of its forces in Israel.