Grandma's army

Jews and their Israelite ancestors had lived in Gaza since Biblical times. An historic Jewish community existed in Gaza City prior to its expulsion by the British, for safety reasons (after many had been massacred), during the infamous 1929 riots by the city’s Arabs.   Land for the village of Kfar Darom (in the Gaza Strip) was purchased in the 1930’s and settled in 1946. It was evacuated following an Egyptian siege in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In1968, Yigal Allon presented an initiative for the founding of two paramilitary  settlements in the centre of the Gaza Strip. He viewed the breaking of the continuity between the northern and southern Arab settlements as vital to Israel's security in the area - which had been captured the previous year in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1970, Kfar Darom was re-established as the first of many Israeli villages in the area. Allon's idea was ultimately designed with five key areas slated for Israeli presence along the length of the ...

  When sudden rains came to the Negev, the planned offensive had to be postponed. Meanwhile, the Egyptians had been reinforcing their garrisons in the Gaza Strip, predicting that the Israelis planned to attack around Gaza. The predictions were correct. On December 22 nd a massive artillery   barrage on Egyptian positions in the Gaza Strip commenced. After two days of hard fighting and many casualties, little ground was gained on either side. But the assault on Gaza was a deception. Two armoured brigades of the Israeli Army were slipping into position   near Beersheba. From there, they would cut across the Sinai to the Mediterranean coast – behind the enemy stronghold at Gaza. The Egyptian Army would be encircled. Israeli archeologists had recently uncovered a Roman trade route from Beersheba to the Sinai. This way, the Israeli force intended to bypass the enemy fortifications, cutting off all Egyptian forces between El Arish and Gaza. Yigal Allon, who was a for...

Jews and their Israelite ancestors have lived in Gaza since Biblical times. A historic Jewish community existed in  Gaza City  prior to its expulsion by the British, for safety reasons, during the infamous 1929 riots by the city's Arabs. Land for the village of  Kfar Darom  was purchased in the 1930s and settled in 1946. It was evacuated following an Egyptian siege in the  1948 Arab-Israeli War . Gush Katif began in 1968, when  Yigal Allon  presented an initiative for the founding of two  paramilitary settlements in the center of the Gaza Strip. He viewed the breaking of the continuity between the northern and southern Arab settlements as vital to Israel's security in the area, which had been captured the previous year in the 1967  Six-Day War . In 1970, Kfar Darom was re-established as the first of many Israeli agricultural villages in the area. Allon's idea was ultimately designed with five key areas slated for Israeli presenc...