Battle of Nirim

Part of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Sign erected in the Nirim dining hall in 1948 for the May Day celebrations, on one of the few surviving walls in the village. The sentence reads "Not the tank shall prevail, but the man", and became an icon of Nirim's successful stand

Date	May 15, 1948
Location	Nirim, Israel Coordinates: 31°14′20.25″N 34°20′17.36″E / 31.2389583°N 34.3381556°E / 31.2389583; 34.3381556
Result	Israeli victory

Belligerents

Israel (Haganah)

Egypt

Commanders and leaders

Haim Bar Lev (8th Btn.)

Strength

39–45

500–800

Casualties and losses

7 killed

30–35 killed

The Battle of Nirim, was a military engagement between the Egyptian army and the Jewish Haganah on May 15, 1948, the first day of the Egyptian invasion of Israel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was fought in kibbutz Nirim, founded just two years earlier as part of the 11 points in the Negev. The Egyptian 6th Battalion attacked about 40 Israeli defenders at dawn on May 15, backed by armored vehicles, mortars, cannons and aircraft. They failed to take the village and retreated about 7 hours later, leaving behind about 30–35 dead.

The first stage of the 1948 War, referred to as the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, started following the ratification of UN Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947, which granted Israel the mandate to declare independence, dividing the Mandate into a Jewish state Arab states. This was declared on May 14, 1948 and the next night, the armies of a number of Arab states invaded Israel and attacked Israeli positions.

Kibbutz Nirim was founded in June 1946 as part of the 11 points in the Negev initiative, a response to the Morrison–Grady Plan for the partition of Palestine. On October 5–6, 1946, new olim left Gvulot to create Nirim to the west and Urim to the south. Nirim was located in close proximity to the new Egypt–Israel border, and the southernmost locality near the coastal road, the Egyptian army's main advance path.

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