High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Battles of the Sinai refer to a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Egyptian Army fought in the Sinai Peninsula in December 1948 – January 1949, as part of the Israeli Operation Horev. The IDF`s Southern Command, under Yigal Allon, concentrated forces to push into the Sinai following their success in the Battle of Bir `Asluj and the Battle of `Auja.