When the second truce in Israel’s War of Independence went into effect on July 18, 1948, Israel was militarily in a far better position than it had been at the outbreak of the War. Still, work was still very much cut out for the nascent IDF as Egyptian forces had pressed so deep into the Negev that they were able to menace the key artery linking Tel Aviv to the southern towns and Jewish settlements. Israel’s innovative, young commander of the Negev campaign was Yigal Allon. In order to break the Egyptian hold, he would have to get his troops to the south undetected.

Allon’s soldiers discovered an ancient route built by the Romans 2000 years earlier, known as the Ruheiba Trail. The Egyptians logically expected an Israeli assault from the conventional route and were totally unprepared for an enemy that materialized out of nowhere from a trail that was concealed and provided natural cover.

Audio credits:

Trailer: To Cast a Giant Shadow

Pacific Front Untold – Flying the Hump vs The Burma Road

Kings and Generals – The First Arab-Israeli war 1948

The Armchair Historian – Brutal Urban Combat - Battle for Fallujah 2004

Fox News – Fallujah General details the True Challenges of Gaza Invasion

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