Reflecting on the 1956 Battle of the Mitla Pass and Its Legacy
Seventy years after the 1956 Battle of the Mitla Pass, the fierce engagement during Operation Kadesh remains a defining and heavily debated chapter in IDF legacy.
Seventy years after the historic events, the Battle of the Mitla Pass remains one of the most intense and debated chapters in the legacy of the IDF. Fought between October 31 and November 1, 1956, during Operation Kadesh, the Sinai Campaign, what began as a reconnaissance mission turned into a brutal ambush and a defining military trial.
The operation was launched following Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal by President Gamal Abdel Nasser in July 1956, and the secret Sèvres Protocol signed between Israel, Britain, and France. On October 29, the IDF dropped the 890th Paratrooper Battalion, commanded by Major Rafael Eitan, east of the Mitla Pass. On October 30, Brigade 202 forces led by Ariel Sharon joined the paratroopers.
Despite strict directives from Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan to avoid entering the western side of the narrow mountain pass, Commander Sharon dispatched a motorized reconnaissance force led by Motta Gur into the deep rock canyon on October 31. Five entrenched Egyptian commando companies opened a devastating crossfire, trapping the convoy and blocking its retreat.
Fierce battles followed as IDF units fought to clear the northern and southern cliffs, featuring acts of exceptional heroism by soldiers such as Avshalom Adam and Levi Chofesh. The engagement ended on November 1 with the pass fully secured. The heavy cost included 38 IDF soldiers killed in action, with four more dying later of their wounds, and 120 wounded, while Egyptian forces sustained approximately 260 fatalities.
