JAKARTA - A war broke out on June 5, 1967. The war involved the Israeli army with troops from Arab countries, such as Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The war became known as the "Six Day War", a brief but bloody event that became one of the roots of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The war was inevitable, despite years of diplomatic friction. The attack was initiated by the Israeli defense forces. They launched a preemptive air strike that crippled the Egyptian and allied air forces.
Long before the Israeli attack, in 1948 to be exact, after the dispute over the establishment of the state of Israel, a coalition of Arab states launched an invasion of the nascent Jewish state as part of the First Arab-Israeli War. However, the invasion failed.
A second major conflict, known as the Suez Crisis erupted in 1956, when Israel, Britain and France carried out a controversial attack on Egypt. The attack was a response to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal.
An era of relative calm prevailed in the Middle East during the late 1950s and early 1960s. But the political situation continues to be on the brink. Arab leaders were saddened by their military losses.
In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees as a result of Israel's victory in the 1948 war. Meanwhile, many Israelis continue to believe that they face an existential threat from Egypt and other Arab countries.
The outbreak of the Six Day WarLaunching History, a series of border disputes became the main trigger of the Six-Day War. In the mid-1960s, Syrian-backed Palestinian guerrillas began carrying out attacks on Israel's borders.
They provoked Palestinian guerrillas to retaliate against the Israel Defense Forces. In April 1967, skirmishes worsened after Israel and Syria fought an air and artillery battle, in which six Syrian fighter jets were destroyed.
After an aerial battle in April, the Soviet Union informed Egyptian intelligence that Israel was moving troops to its northern border with Syria in preparation for a full-scale invasion.
The information was inaccurate, but it still got Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser into action. In a show of support for his Syrian ally, President Nasser ordered Egyptian troops to advance into the Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptian troops then expelled UN peacekeepers who had guarded the border with Israel for more than a decade. The tension is increasing. In the days that followed, Nasser continued to vibrate the sword.
However, on May 22, 1967, he blocked the process of shipping Israeli supplies from the Strait of Tiran, the sea route connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. A week later, Nasser sealed a defense pact with King Hussein of Jordan.
As the situation in the Middle East worsened, the then US President, Lyndon B. Johnson, warned both sides not to fire the first shot. It is also seeking to garner support for international maritime operations to reopen the Strait of Tiran.
However, that plan never materialized. In early June 1967, Israeli leaders countered the Arab military by launching a preemptive strike. On June 5, 1967, the Israel Defense Forces initiated Operation Focus, a coordinated air strike against Egypt.
That morning, about 200 planes took off from Israel and dived west over the Mediterranean before overrunning Egypt from the north. After surprisingly capturing the Egyptians, Israeli forces attacked 18 different airfields and eliminated about 90 percent of the Egyptian air force.
Israel then expanded its attack range and destroyed Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces. By the end of the day on June 5, Israeli pilots won complete control of Middle Eastern skies.
Don't stay still. Israel secured victory by establishing air superiority. But fierce fighting continued for several days. The ground war in Egypt also began on June 5, as Israeli airstrikes, tanks and infantry stormed across the border and into the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip.
Egyptian troops put up a fight, though they fell apart, after Commander-in-Chief Abdel Hakim Amer ordered the troops to withdraw. Over the next few days, Israeli troops pursued the Egyptians who were diverted to Sinai. Victims fall.
The second front in the Six-Day War took place on June 5. Jordan then reacted to false reports about Egypt's victory. Jordanian troops began shelling Israeli positions in Jerusalem. Israel responded with retaliatory strikes that devastated East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
On June 7, Israeli troops captured Jerusalem and celebrated by praying at the Western Wall. The final phase of fighting takes place along Israel's northeastern border with Syria. On June 9, after intense aerial bombardment, Israeli tanks and infantry advanced on the heavily fortified Syrian territory called the Golan Heights.
They managed to capture Golan the next day. On June 10, 1967, a UN-brokered truce came into effect and the Six-Day War ended. It was later estimated that about 20 thousand Arabs and eight hundred Israelis died in just 132 hours of fighting.
After the Six Day War
The leaders of the Arab countries were very surprised by their defeat. Egyptian President Nasser even resigned in disgrace. He returned to his post after Egyptians showed their support by staging large demonstrations.
In Israel, the atmosphere is very happy. In less than a week, the country has captured the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
The Six Day War also had important geopolitical ramifications in the Middle East. Victory in the war caused a wave of national pride in Israel, but also fanned the flames of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Still wounded by their defeat in the Six-Day War, Arab leaders met in Khartoum, Sudan, in August 1967. During the meeting, they signed a resolution promising "no peace, no recognition and no negotiations" with Israel.
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By claiming the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel also absorbs more than one million Palestinian Arabs. Several hundred thousand Palestinians later fled Israeli rule. This exacerbated the refugee crisis that had already occurred during the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948.
Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982 as part of a peace treaty and later withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. However, to this day, Israel continues to occupy and develop territories claimed in the Six Day War, especially the Golan Heights and the West Bank. The status of these territories continues to be a stumbling block in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations.
*Read other information about WORLD HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Putri Ainur Islam.
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