1967 Six Day War - conquest of Sinai 7-8 June

On 6 June 1967, after the start of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

closed the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, which it owned and operated, and kept it closed until 5 June 1975, through most of the

Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, which is a part of Egypt, has been militarily occupied by Israel twice since the beginning of the Arab–Israeli conflict: the first occupation lasted from October 1956 to March 1957, and the second occupation lasted from ...

including the east bank of the Canal. The

had begun the day before the closure on 5 June 1967 between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and several

Arab states The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

including Egypt. Israel bombed most of Egypt's airfields and then entered and occupied the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), 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 a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

including the entire east bank of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal was therefore the frontline between the Israeli and Egyptian military forces. Israel built the Bar Lev Line of fortifications along the east bank of the canal. In 1966, 60% of Italy's, 39% of France's, and 25% of Britain's total oil consumption passed through the Suez Canal.

The prior 1956–57 closure

The Canal had been closed before, from October 1956 until March 1957 during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

, when

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

, the leader of Egypt at the time, was aligning himself with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and he nationalized the Suez Canal, seizing it from French and British investors.

The War of Attrition 1967–70

Egypt waged a

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

against the Israelis across the canal from 1967 to 1970, in coordination with activity by allies

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

. Hostilities initially took the form of limited artillery duels and small-scale incursions into Sinai, but by 1969, the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

judged itself prepared for larger-scale operations. On March 8, 1969, Nasser proclaimed the official launch of the War of Attrition, characterized by large-scale shelling along the Suez Canal, extensive aerial warfare and

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

raids. Hostilities continued until August 1970 and ended with a ceasefire. The frontiers remained the same as when the war began, with no real commitment to serious peace negotiations.

Yom Kippur War

In October 1973 Egypt began 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 fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

with an attempt to take back the east bank of the canal and the entire Sinai Peninsula from the Israelis, by crossing the Suez Canal in Operation Badr. The attempt partly succeeded in that Egypt regained control of the east bank of the canal, but Israel retained control of the Sinai Peninsula.

Re-opening

The canal opened again in a ceremony attended by Egyptian President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

, senior members of the government and foreign dignitaries in June 1975 after the 1974 Suez Canal Clearance Operation cleared the canal of mines and debris.

References

Suez Canal 1974 in Egypt Egypt–United States military relations Egypt in the Arab–Israeli conflict 20th century in the Sinai Peninsula History of the foreign relations of Egypt 1960s in international relations 1970s in international relations 1960s in economic history 1970s in economic history Economic history of Egypt {{DEFAULTSORT:Closure of the Suez Canal (1967-1975)

The prior 1956–57 closure

The War of Attrition 1967–70

Yom Kippur War

Re-opening

See also

References