In October 1956, Israeli attack against Egypt occurs,
in response to the raids of Arab commandos and sabotage
at the end of the Suez Canal and the port of Elath.
The Suez War ends with the Egyptian withdrawal
and Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza,
territories that a year later will be taken over by the United Nations peacekeepers.
But this situation could be not considered, even remotely, as peace.
Denying the possibility of entering any negotiations,
Egypt asked military support from Syria and Jordan,
while Israel demonstrated its desire to settle permanently in the occupied territories,
to begin their major irrigation projects with water brought from the Sea of Galilee.
Since late 1966, the way for a third war between Arabs and Israelis seemed unstoppable,
assisted by the coming to power in Syria of the most radical section of the Baath Party.
In mid-May of 1967,
the Cairo Government called on the UN to withdraw its intervention forces
and days later,
signed an agreement with Jordan while preventing the passage of Israeli shipping
through the Straits of Tiran.
The Israeli offensive was in the early hours of June the 5th,
after noticing the radars, the approach of Egyptian aircraft
and armored units moving toward the border of Israel.
Israeli defenses, led by Major General Rabin,
had been activated from May the 20th,
to address the massive Arab armies covering the borders.
The surprise of the Egyptians was huge,
because they hoped that Israel would direct its attack against Syria.
In addition, Israeli aviation came from the sea,
making enemies think for a moment,
that the 1956 Suez War was being reproduced.
Israel Air Force conducted a raid in order to destroy the Egyptian aviation and airports.
In flight, almost flush, flat below Egyptian radar screens,
Israeli planes destroyed effectively the enemy’s Air Force.
The Israeli air attack destroyed, in just 3 hours,
391 Egyptian aircraft that failed to take off,
while other aircraft were downed in combat.
Their own losses were only 19.
The air success allowed a comfortable advance of the Israeli infantry
over the Egyptian’s armies in Sinai,
that had 7 divisions and about 1,000 tanks.
The Jewish offense occurred through a three step forward.
For the North, Brigadier General Israel Tal broke the Egyptian defenses
and reached on the night of June the 5th El-Arish.
Another important development occurred
as a result of the combined action of the brigades of Yoffe,
to the center,
and Sharon, to the South.
Yoffe made an incursion into the desert allowing him to penetrate behind Egyptian lines,
dominating on June the 6th, the road linking Abu Ageila with LAHF Bir.
At the same time,
Sharon's division attacked at night the Egyptian defenses in Umm Kataf,
achieving the control of Ageila Abu Crossing.
Both defenses were finally taken by the intervention
of a brigade of paratroopers transported by helicopter.
Simultaneously,
the Israeli advance on the front of the Sinai continued from the North,
breaking the resistance
of the Egyptian-Palestinian troops defending the Gaza Strip.
The same day,
the 5th, King Hussein of Jordan receives erroneous information
according to which the Egyptian troops are defeating the Israelis in the Sinai.
Thus, the agreement between Egypt and Jordan push Jordan to intervene in the western front,
and ordered a bombing of major Israeli cities,
reaching even the outskirts of Tel Aviv and especially Jerusalem.
Israeli counterattack was fast, quickly taking the village of Sur Bahir,
on the road to Bethlehem.
At the same time, Israeli troops conquered positions in the North of Jerusalem,
while other troops took up positions in the South of Ramallah.
That same afternoon, Israeli planes that had been involved in the bombing of Egypt
punished Jordanian cities of Amman and Mafraq.
At night, a brigade of infantry took the town of Latrum,
advancing along the road from Bet Horon,
with the purpose of contacting the staff located on the outskirts of Ramallah.
The advance Israeli movement on the western front was set,
from this time, around Jerusalem,
where they established the Central Command.
Central Command first ordered an attack towards the south of the city;
also, somewhat later,
an attack with the Marines Infantry and with an armored brigade the north of Jerusalem.
Subsequently, the breakthrough came towards the East,
cutting off communication between Jordanian forces based in Jerusalem
and its reinforcements located in Samaria.
On the night of June 6, the fighting occurred in the northern area.
Jordanian troops attacked Israeli territory,
but had to withdraw after suffering a severe counterattack
from the infantry and armored base.
Thus, Israeli forces entered Jordanian territory surrounding the town of Jenin.
The bloody battle armor resulted in the triumph of Israel
and the occupation of a wide strip of land.
After a full day of fighting,
the deployment of Israeli troops allowed a link between Central and Northern Commands,
which converged in the center of the Jordanian positions following their progress
for the South, West and North.
The second day of war in the Sinai,
Israelian troops from General Tal continued their parallel to the coast from El Arish,
towards the Suez Canal,
while another column was attacking the Egyptian defenses LAFH Bir,
managing to link to Yoffe general troops.
The deployment of Yoffe followed a straight line to Egypt,
while on the South, troops of Sharon continued to operate in two directions,
toward Abu Ageila, in the North,
and towards the Kusseima in the South.
Simultaneously,
a joint attack by infantry, armor and paratroopers
occupied the city of Gaza, not without a great effort.
In East Jerusalem, at the same time, there were bloody battles.
On the North of the city,
Israeli troops try to move out the Jordanian defenses
that prevent communication with the city of Ramallah,
now converted into a strategic point.
The city finally fell.
On the same stage, from the north,
Israeli forces continued their advance southwards,
while from the West Kalkiliya City fell.
The Israeli attack ended after taking Jenin,
at noon on the second day of war.
Another Israeli breakthrough occurred at the Tubas-Nablus road,
colliding with Jordanian tanks.
At night, they managed to occupy the first township,
continuing its advance into the Jordan River.
On June, the 7th, Israeli troops achieved their most significant victory,
taking completely the Old City of Jerusalem.
From here, there was a new display,
which allowed taking Bethlehem and Hebron without making a single shot.
After taking Ramallah,
the Israeli army continued to move to Jericho,
while, from Nablus,
they were deploying troops into the Jordan River.
In the Sinai peninsula, Israeli naval forces occupied Sharm el-Sheikh,
which allow the opening of the Tiran Straits.
The maritime movement was thus assured.
At the same time, the Israeli advance was culminating.
Three divisions were trying to isolate the Egyptian battleships,
in order to cut off their retreat towards the Suez Canal.
Tal’s troops conquered the Egyptian base Gafgafa Bir,
resisting the latest Egyptian counter-attack,
While Yoffe’s troops took Bir Hassneh
and moved into the Mitla pass to cut the Egyptian withdrawal.
Thus were formed little Egyptian points in Kusseima, Abu Ageila and Kuntilla,
which soon fell to the advancing Sharon’s troops towards Nakhl.
The fourth day of war, the Israeli attack on Sinai became unstoppable.
Tal’s troops occupied Kantara and Ismailia,
while Yoffe’s troops advanced in three lines to the city of Suez, Bitter Lake and Lake Sudat.
The deployment of troops was perfect,
linking Abu Zenima with the paratroopers who,
after being dropped in Sharm el-Sehij, marched northward.
The desperate Egyptian defense in Mitla Pass made this place a witness
of a desperate act that did not prevent the total occupation of the Sinai peninsula
in just four days.
The debacle suffered by Egypt and Jordan
led to the acceptance of a ceasefire sponsored by the United Nations,
who also joined Israel.
However, the war was not yet complete.
Syria, instigator of the war,
had been limited to bombard Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights,
occupying the Kibbutz Dan.
In response, Israeli forces, no longer under pressure from other fronts,
attacked the heavily defended Syrian positions in the Golan.
The main attack came from the north, almost hand to hand fighting.
The Israeli military advance allowed the taking of Tel Fakhr,
not without suffering many human and material losses.
Of an entire armored battalion, only two tanks remained intact.
Simultaneously,
Israeli forces attacked the Syrian defensive line in the Golan from the south,
in the area north of the Sea of ​​Galilee.
The next day, on June the 10, both columns fell on Quneitra,
while at the same time,
paratroopers were thrown from helicopters, far behind enemy lines
and an armored unit and penetrated into Harab and Rafid.
The taking of the Golan Heights was thus completed,
forcing Syria to accept a UN ceasefire,
just when the Israelis were going to Damascus.
The war was over.
In just 6 days, Israel alone had defeated its Arab opponents.
While these had experienced 15,000 dead and 6,000 prisoners,
the Israelis had only 777 casualties, 2,586 wounded and 17 prisoners.
As a result, Israel annexed territories , allowing it to increase its size,
incorporating the Sinai Peninsula,
the Gaza Strip and areas of Samaria, Judea and the Golan Heights.
However, the additions will be in the future source of new conflicts,
because the Palestinian people,
due to the occupation of Gaza and West Bank came under Israeli control,
or took refuge in neighboring countries,
and later will struggle to regain their control over these territories. 00:11:34.633,00:00:00.000