The Six-Day War was fought from 5 to 10 June 1967 during the Arab-Israeli Conflict when Israel defeated all of its Arab neighbors and occupied the Gaza Strip and Sinai from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The war resulted in the displacement of 300,000 Palestinians from the West Bank, 100,000 Syrians from the Golan Heights, and the Arab and communist persecution and expulsion of Jewish communities from the Arab League and Eastern Bloc nations.
Background[]
During the mid-1960s, Israel and Syria engaged in a low-intensity "War over Water" along the Jordan River and the Golan Heights, with the Israelis fighting to protect their water rights to the Sea of Galilee and the Syrians attempting to divert the flow of the Banias and Hasbani Rivers to deprive the Israelis of their one water source. At the same time, President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser made plans to strike back at Israel as revenge for the 1956 Suez Crisis; in 1964, the Arab League explicitly stated its goal of forestalling the establishment of Israel and military liquidating the country. In May 1967, Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran and forced the United Nations peacekeepers in the Sinai Peninsula to withdraw, claiming that Israel was planning an invasion of Syria. Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria massed troops along Israel's borders in preparation for a combined assault, so Israel decided to launch a preemptive strike and derail the Arab League's plans.
War[]
Israeli air offensive[]
At 7:45 AM on 5 June 1967, the Israeli Air Force launched a surprise attack on the Egyptian Air Force, with all but 12 of its 200 operational jets launching a mass attack on Egypt's airfields. 338 Egyptian aircraft were destroyed and 100 pilots were killed, giving Israel air superiority over Egypt. At 9:30 AM, Jordanian machine-gunners began to clash with Israeli troops in East Jerusalem, and, at 11:15 AM, Jordanian artillery began to bombard West Jerusalem. Shortly before 12:30 PM, the IAF attacked Jordan's two airbases, cratering the runways, destroying the control towers, and destroying all 21 of Jordan's Hawker Hunter fighters, 6 transport aircraft, and 2 helicopters. At the same time, the IAF attacked an Iraqi Air Force airbase in western Iraq, destroying 22 Iraqi aircraft. On the evening of 5 June, the IAF bombed the Syrian Air Force's airfields, destroying 57 SAF aircraft, two-thirds of its strength.
Sinai Campaign[]
At 7:50 AM on 5 June 1967, 70,000 IDF troops and 700 tanks invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, facing 100,000 troops, 950 tanks, 1,100 APCs, and 1,000 artillery pieces. The Israelis circumvented Rafah in the Gaza Strip and used air support and artillery power to inflict heavy losses on the Egyptians, although the Israelis also suffered heavy losses during the capture of Gaza. The Israelis then advanced on Arish, which fell on 6 June. Further south, Ariel Sharon's division advanced into the Sinai and captured Um-Katef after fierce fighting. Israeli airstrikes forced Nasser to order an immediate withdrawal from the Sinai, and the Israelis reached the Suez Canal on 8 June; 17 Soviet marines were killed and 34 wounded when the IAF struck a Soviet Navy warship at Port Said during the Egyptian withdrawal. On 7 June, the Israelis captured Sharm el-Sheikh, and the Sinai was in Israeli hands by 8 June. The Egyptians made no attempts to retake the Sinai until the war's end.
West Bank Campaign[]
King Hussein I of Jordan gave command of the Jordanian army to the Egyptian general Abdul Munim Riad, and the Jordanians launched an attack on Israeli-held West Jerusalem shortly after the Jordanian air force was annihilated. In the Battle of Ammunition Hill, the Israelis defeated the Jordanians after four hours of hand-to-hand combat, and, at 6:30 PM, the Jordanians withdrew to Bethlehem. In the late afternoon of 5 June, the Israelis encircled Jerusalem, and they captured Jerusalem and most of the West Bank by the evening of 7 June. On 7 June, the Jordanian army was ordered to withdraw to avoid annihilation, and Israeli general Moshe Dayan had his troops dig in inside of Jerusalem, holding the city until the ceasefire.
Golan Heights Campaign[]
For the first four days of the war, Syria was only sporadically involved, as the Syrian government had heard false reports that the Egyptians had won a decisive victory against the Israelis. The Syrians bombarded Israeli settlements in the Galilee Panhandle on 5 June, and, from 7-8 June, the Israeli leadership debated attacking the Golan Heights in Syria. The Israelis projected 30,000 losses and feared Soviet intervention, but Northern Command general David Elazar was enthusiastic about the Israelis' chances, eroding Dayan's reluctance to commit to the plan. Fortunately for the IDF, the undercover Israeli spy Eli Cohen had convinced the Syrians to plant eucalyptus trees atop their underground bunker positions back in 1962 while posing as a Syrian businessman, and these trees were used as markers for Israeli Air Force bombers and Israeli artillery pieces during the assault on the Golan Heights. On 9 June, IAF jets began bombarding the Syrian positions from Mount Hermon to Tawfiq, and the Syrians suffered heavy casualties, including desertions. The Israeli advance was spearheaded by armored units, and they advanced 30 miles towards the Syrian capital of Damascus. At 8:30 AM on 10 June, the Syrians began blowing up their own bunkers, burning documents, and retreating from the Golan Heights, which were permanently occupied by Israel (later annexed in 2019); Quneitra also fell to the Israelis.
Aftermath[]
On 11 June 1967, a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the war, leaving Israel in control of the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights and 1 million more Arabs. The war left up to 983 Israelis dead and 4,517 wounded, while the Egyptians lost 15,000 KIA/MIA and 4,338 POW, the Jordanians lost 700 KIA and 2,500 WIA, and the Syrians lost 2,500 KIA and 591 POW.
Israel allowed for each religious group to administer their own holy sites in Jerusalem, and Jews were now able to pray at Western Wall for the first time since 1948. al-Aqsa Mosque was reserved for the Muslims, but the Jews were still allowed to visit Temple Mount, and the Jews won back the Cave of the Patriarchs, Rachel's Tomb, and Joseph's Tomb. After the war, Zionism was greatly energized, causing thousands of Jews to voluntarily emigrate to Israel from the West; however, the Arab League and the communist Eastern Bloc states began a series of anti-Semitic purges, forcing 165,000 Soviet Jews to flee to Israel and thousands more from the Arab countries. Meanwhile, 300,000 Palestinians fled from the West Bank and 100,000 Syrians from the Golan Heights, creating a refugee crisis which energized the Jordan-based PLO and Syrian nationalists, respectively.