Day 372 of 599 of מלחמת העצמאות MILḤEMET HAʾAẒMAʾUT (War of Independence)

Around noon, eleven half-tracks left גבולות GEVULOT. The 89th Battalion advanced through Shuwat; the 13th Battalion of גולני GOLANI followed to hold the captured positions. Between about 14:00 and 15:00, troops moved against Sheikh Nuran, whose Egyptian defenders withdrew. Khirbat Ma’in followed about 16:00. These movements belong to December 5, distinct from the previous night’s orders. ¹

The offensive disrupted positions of the invading army of the Kingdom of Egypt and improved protection of roads, water infrastructure and nearby communities. It also created exposed positions that required reinforcement and could be counterattacked. The full campaign study explains why the first advance was not the operation’s end. The military history’s reconstruction does not supply a separately verified December 5 casualty list. ²

Reconnaissance described Shuwat as empty. That observation does not establish when inhabitants left, their destination, an evacuation order, expulsion or denial of return. The following phases contain explicit removal instructions, but those cannot retrospectively prove the cause of every earlier absence. Civilian accounts and household records would connect military movement to individual outcomes. ³

This is Day 372 of the 599-day civil-date series: 1948-12-05. The Gregorian daytime date is converted to the fixed Ivrit calendar. Its public daytime route is ג׳ בכסלו ה׳תש״ט 3rd 𝑜𝑓 Kislev, AM 5709; after local sunset, the Hebrew date is ד׳ בכסלו ה׳תש״ט 4th 𝑜𝑓 Kislev, AM 5709. The civil-day slot does not assign every incident this same Hebrew date. The noon departure and afternoon captures support daytime December 5. Later orders and counterattacks retain their own occurrence dates. Military history and original unit reports form a transmission chain, not independent witnesses simply because both are cited. ⁴

• How did holding the captured positions differ from the first advance?
• What would establish why Shuwat was empty?