The XX Corps and Desert Mounted Corps won a tactical victory of manoeuvre, forcing the Ottoman garrison at Beersheba to withdraw. However, although the 53rd (Welsh) Division—with one brigade of the 10th (Irish) Division attached—had been deployed to prevent Ottoman units escaping the battle, the Beersheba garrison was able to withdraw "up the Gaza road and to the north" into the Judean Hills, along the road towards Hebron, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And although the Beersheba garrison suffered many casualties; "stubborn fighting" by strong Ottoman rearguards at Hareira, Tel es Sheria and Tel el Khuweilfe, delayed the EEF for seven days, as they continued to hold the remainder of the Gaza line. The Ottoman III Corps headquarters (which had withdrawn from Beersheba to Tel es Sheria during the battle) moved back to support the defence of the road to Hebron at Dhahriye, followed by the 143rd Regiment (24th Division) and 1,500 rifles of the former Beersheba Group (which had been reorganised at Tel es Sheria). The latter group moved to reinforce the defence of Tel el Khuweilfe, where the battle began on 1 November.