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Revision as of 03:08, 6 June 2022
The Battle of Gesher was a Joint Iraqi-Jordanian Advance against the newly created State of Israel and engaged specifically with the Golani Brigade during the larger 1947–1949 Palestine war on May 14th-22nd 1948. The Battle began when the Jewish Exclave of Naharayim on the 14th of May in an attempt to reach Afula and link with the First Yarmouk Brigade of the Arab Liberation Army. The Battle was a tactical Israeli victory as the Iraqi Army would simply move south to the cities of Nablus and Jenin to take over the Samarian Front resulting in the halting of the advance to Afula.
Background
The First stage of the War started when UN Resolution 181 was ratified on November 29th 1947 and the Army of the Holy War along with the Muslim Brothers Group calling to arms the people of the former British Mandate a day later. Gesher was originally a target of the Arab Liberation Army during their original offensives in the Galilee around March 12th 1948. However the strategic position on the Jordan,Tabor and Yarmouk rivers Gesher is situated in and it's proximity to both Afula and Naharayim proved a fruitful target to both the Arab Legion and the Royal Iraqi Armed Forces especially when Transjordan invaded the former Mandate on May 10th 1948 and the Later Iraqi Invasion on the 14th The combined Arab forces had 2 infantry battalions, 1 armoured battalion and 1 artillery company, Golani numbers are unknown but are most likely numbered at 450-1000.
The Attack
On 14th of May 18:00 the Arab Legion and Iraqi Forces took over Naharayim resulting in the Bridge connecting Naharayim to Gesher was blown up by sappers from the Golani Brigade on 20:00 local time however Arab Forces crossed the river at a lower point near the Tabor on the 15th and later crossing the river and seizing nearby Carmel Hill on the 16th to begin a siege on the Kibbutz, the same day on 16:00 local time an Arab offensive into the centre of Gesher was repulsed. on the 17th of May the Golani did an ineffective arial assault on Carmel Hill and was later repulsed during an attack directly afterwards, around the same time 6-21 armoured cars were destroyed during on offensive on the Police Fort by Arab forces. Continued failed offensives by both sides would continue until May 21st-22nd when the Iraqis were repulsed at Belvoir and Kochav Haryaden later retreating to Narahayim and near the Sea of Galilee before moving a majority of Iraqi forces to Nablus and the Samarian Front.