The Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula was a 15-year-long
military occupation
Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
of the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
by Israeli forces that occurred after
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's seizure of the region from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
during the
1967 Arab–Israeli War. Israeli provisional control over the Sinai Peninsula ended in 1982 following the implementation of the
1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty, which saw Israel return the region to Egypt in exchange for the latter's
recognition of Israel as a legitimate sovereign state.
A total of 18
Israeli settlements were established in the region during the occupation, primarily along the
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
and in the northeast portions located south of the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
.
The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in multiple stages beginning in 1979 as part of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty. Israel dismantled 18 settlements, 2 airforce bases, a naval base, and other installations by 1982, including most oil resources under Israeli control.
History
Israeli forces first seized the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula during the
Suez Crisis of October–November 1956. Under heavy international pressure, Israeli forces withdrew in March 1957, after heavily mapping the territory and placing secret supply caches in preparation for the next war. As part of the conditions for the Israeli withdrawal, the Sinai Peninsula was demilitarized and the
UNEF UNEF may refer to:
* United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956
* UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1)
* Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Natio ...
peacekeeping force was established there to police the border between Israel and Egypt. In May 1967, Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the withdrawal of this force and moved Egypt's own troops into the area. Israel, believing war to be imminent, ultimately launched a preemptive strike against Egypt, beginning the Six-Day War. Within three days, Israel had occupied most of the Sinai Peninsula.
Following the Israeli capture and occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt launched the
War of Attrition
The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...
(1967–1970) aimed at forcing Israel to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula. The war saw protracted conflict in the Suez Canal Zone, ranging from limited to large scale combat. Israeli shelling of the cities of
Port Said,
Ismailia
Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...
, and
Suez
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...
on the west bank of the canal, led to high civilian casualties (including the virtual destruction of Suez), and contributed to the flight of 700,000 Egyptian internal refugees. Ultimately, the war concluded in 1970 with no change in the front line. On 6 October 1973, Egypt commenced
Operation Badr to retake the Sinai Peninsula, while Syria launched a simultaneous operation to retake the Golan Heights, thereby beginning the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...
(known in Egypt and much of Europe as the ''October War''). The canal was reopened in 1975, with President Sadat leading the first convoy through the canal aboard an Egyptian destroyer. In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in which Israel agreed to withdraw from the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula. Israel subsequently withdrew in several stages, ending on 26 April 1982.
Israeli settlements in Sinai
Israeli settlements in the Sinai Peninsula were split into two regions: one along the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
coast, and another along the
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
. Israel had plans to expand the settlement of
Yamit
Yamit ( he, ימית) was an Israeli settlement in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula with a population of about 2,500 people. Yamit was established during Israel's occupation of the peninsula from the end of the 1967 Six-Day War until th ...
into a city of up to 200,000 residents. The actual population of Yamit never exceeded 3,000.
Kintera.org—The Giving Communities
. Theisraelproject.org. Retrieved on 2012-01-15. The settlements in the Yamit region were demolished by Israel prior to the withdrawal, but the settlements on the gulf: Ofira
Ofira ( he, אופירה) was an Israeli settlement in the Sharm el-Sheikh area of the southern Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian territory that was under Israeli occupation from 1967 to 1982. Ofira was settled from 1969 and was meant to accommodate 50 ...
(Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...
), Di Zahav (Dahab
Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...
), and Neviot (Nuweiba
Nuweiba (also spelled: Nueiba; ar, نويبع, ) is a coastal town in the eastern part of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, located on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
History
Historically, it is in the Asian Part of Egypt and the area was inhabited by t ...
) remained intact, and were further developed by Egypt after the withdrawal.
Yamit region
* Yamit
Yamit ( he, ימית) was an Israeli settlement in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula with a population of about 2,500 people. Yamit was established during Israel's occupation of the peninsula from the end of the 1967 Six-Day War until th ...
* Avshalom, Sinai
* Netiv HaAsara, Sinai
* Holit
* Dikla
* Pri'el, Sinai
* Sufa, Sinai
Sufa ( he, סוּפָה, ''lit.'' Storm) was an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in Sinai. Located two kilometres east of Yamit, it was evacuated as part of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1982. Its former residents established a new kibb ...
* Talmei Yosef, Sinai
Gulf region
* Di Zahav (Dahab)
* Neviot (Nuweiiba)
* Ofira (Sharm El Sheikh)
* Aviya Sonesta Beach Hotel (Taba)
See also
* Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon
The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon formally began in 1985 and ended in 2000 as part of the South Lebanon conflict. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to a spate of attacks carried out from Lebanese territory by Palestinian mi ...
* Israeli-occupied territories
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...
* Closure of the Suez Canal (1967–1975)
References
{{Egypt–Israel relations
Sinai Peninsula
Arab–Israeli conflict
Egypt–Israel relations