Six-Day War

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Six-Day War Part of the Arab–Israeli conflict Israel's territories before and after the Six Day War. The Straits of Tiran are circled, between the Gulf of Aqaba to the north and the Red Sea to the south. Date June 5, 1967 – June 10, 1967 Location Middle East Result Decisive Israeli victory Territorial changes Israel captured the Gaza Strip and theSinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Belligerents  Israel  Egypt  Syria  Jordan Arab Expeditionary Forces:[1]  Iraq  Saudi Arabia  Morocco  Algeria  Libya[citation needed]  Tunisia  Sudan  PLO Commanders and leaders  Yitzhak Rabin,  Moshe Dayan,  Uzi Narkiss,  Israel Tal,  Mordechai Hod,  Yeshayahu Gavish,  Ariel Sharon,  Ezer Weizman  Abdel Hakim Amer,  Abdul Munim Riad,  Zaid ibn Shaker,  Asad Ghanma,  Hafez al-Assad,  Abdul Rahman Arif Strength 50,000 troops 214,000 reserves 300 combat aircraft 800 tanks [2] Total troops: 264,000 100,000 deployed Egypt: 240,000 Syria, Jordan, and Iraq: 307,000 957 combat aircraft 2,504 tanks[2] Total troops: 547,000 240,000 deployed Casualties and losses 776[3]–983[4]killed: 4,517 wounded 15 captured,[4] 46 aircraft destroyed Egypt – 10,000[5]–15,000[6] killed, wounded & missing. 4,338 captured[7] Jordan – 700[4]–6,000[8] killed or missing. 533 captured.[7] Syria – 2,500 killed, 591 captured. Iraq – 10 killed, 30 wounded Total – between 11,700 and 23,500 killed 5,500+ captured, hundreds of tanks destroyed and 452+ aircraft destroyed. [show] v • d • e Arab–Israeli conflict [show] v • d • e Six-Day War

Israeli troops examine destroyed Arab aircraft

The Six-Day War or June War (Hebrew: מלחמת ששת הימים, transliterated: Milhemet Sheshet Ha Yamim; Arabic: النكسة transliterated: an-Naksah (The Setback), or حرب 1967,Ḥarb 1967 (War of 1967)), also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War or the Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and June 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt [known then as the United Arab Republic (UAR)], Jordan, and Syria. At the war's end, Israel had seized the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The status of theIsraeli-occupied territories and the concurrent refugee problem, are central concerns in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict, raising issues in international law, and having far-reaching consequences in global affairs.^[9]

After the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt agreed to the stationing of a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Sinai to ensure all parties would comply with the 1949 Armistice Agreements.^[10] In the following years there were numerous minor border clashes between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly Syria. In early November, 1966, Syria signed amutual defense agreement with Egypt.^[11] After several attacks on Israel that killed and injured dozens of people, reportedly by the Palestinian fedayeen group Fatah, three Israeli paratroopers were killed when they ran over a mine. In response Israel attacked the city ofas-Samu in the Jordanian-occupied West Bank.^[12] Jordanian units sent to engage the Israelis were quickly beaten back. ^[13] King Hussein of Jordan criticized Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser for failing to come to Jordan's aid, and "hiding behind UNEF skirts".^[14] In May of 1967, Nasser received false reports from the Soviet Union that Israel was massing on the Syrian border. In response Nasser began massing his troops in the Sinai Peninsula on Israel's border (May 16), expelled the UNEF force from Gaza and Sinai (May 19) and took up UNEF positions at Sharm el-Sheikh, overlooking the Straits of Tiran.^[15][16] Israel reiterated declarations made in 1957 that any closure of the Straits would be considered an act of war, or justification for war.^[17][18] Nasser declared the Straits closed to Israeli shipping on May 22–23. On June 1, Israel formed a National Unity Government by widening its cabinet, and on June 4 the decision was made to go to war. The next morning, Israel launched Operation Focus, a large-scale surprise air strike that was the opening of the Six-Day War.

Israel completed a decisive air offensive in the first two days, then carried out three successful land campaigns. The air campaign caught Egyptian aircraft still on the ground. It crippled the Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces, destroyed Jordan's Air Force, and rapidly established complete air supremacy, which accelerated subsequent victories on land. The Sinai ground campaign from June 5–8 broke through Egyptian defenses, blocked their escape, and imposed disastrous losses, leading to Egypt's unconditional acceptance of a cease-fire on June 9. From June 5–7, Israel seized Jerusalem, Hebron, and the entire West Bank from Jordan. The battle with Syria for the heavily fortified Golan Heights lasted from June 9 to June 10.

The Six-Day War has been characterized as a preemptive war,^[d] an "inadvertent war",^[19]and an action designed to preserve the credibility of Israel's deterrence strategy, among other things. Israel and Egypt have both been described as either the victim or the aggressor. The war established Israel as the premier military power in the region and left it in control of more defensible boundaries and in a position to threaten Damascus, Cairo, and Amman.^[20] The nature and outcome of the war caused a significant realignment in the competition for power between the Arab states, brought secular nationalism into widespread disfavor among Arabs, and led to a concurrent rise in the growth and influence of Islamism in the Arab world.

Contents  [hide] 1 Background 1.1 Suez Crisis aftermath 1.2 Water dispute 1.3 Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank Palestinians 1.4 Israel and Syria 1.5 Removal of U.N. peacekeepers from Egypt 1.6 The Straits of Tiran 1.7 Egypt and Jordan 2 The drift to war 2.1 Diplomacy and intelligence assessments 2.2 The combatant armies 3 The fighting fronts 3.1 Preliminary air attack 3.2 Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula 3.3 West Bank 3.4 Golan Heights 3.5 War in the air 3.6 War at sea 4 Conclusion of conflict and post-war situation 5 Casualties 6 Allegations of Egyptian atrocities against fellow Egyptians 7 Allegations that the IDF killed Egyptian prisoners 8 Combat support 9 Non-combat support 10 Displaced populations 10.1 Arab 10.2 Jews in Arab countries 11 See also 11.1 Key people involved 12 Notes 13 Footnotes 14 References 15 Further reading 16 External links

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