1973 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states
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Egyptian forces occupy the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, with the exception of the Israeli crossing point near the Deversoir Air Base[26]
Israeli forces occupy 1,600 km2 (620 sq mi) of territory on the southwestern coast of the Suez Canal within 100 km (60 mi) of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, and encircle an Egyptian enclave on its eastern bank[26]
Israeli forces occupy 500 km2 (193 sq mi) of the Syrian Bashan region on top of the Golan Heights, bringing them within 32 km (20 mi) of the Syrian capital of Damascus[27]
The war began on 6 October 1973, when the Arab coalition jointly launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, which had occurred during the 10th day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in that year.[67] Following the outbreak of hostilities, both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their allies (Israel and the Arab states respectively) during the war,[68][69][70] which led to a confrontation between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.[71]
Fighting commenced when Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed their corresponding ceasefire lines with Israel and entered the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal in Operation Badr and advanced into the Sinai Peninsula; the Syrians launched a coordinated attack in the Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made gains into Israeli-held territory. After three days of heavy fighting, Israel halted the Egyptian offensive, resulting in a military stalemate on that front, and pushed the Syrians back to the pre-war ceasefire lines. The Israeli military then launched a four-day-long counter-offensive deep into Syria, and within a week Israeli artillery began to shell the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus. Egyptian forces meanwhile pushed for two strategic mountain passes deeper within the Sinai Peninsula but were repulsed, and Israeli forces counter-attacked by crossing the Suez Canal into Egypt and advancing towards Suez City.[72][73] On 22 October, an initial ceasefire brokered by the United Nations unravelled, with each side blaming the other for the breach.
By 24 October, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army and Suez City, bringing them within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Egypt then repelled advances by Israel with the concluding twin victories at the battles of Ismailia and Suez. This development led to dangerously heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, and a second ceasefire was imposed cooperatively on 25 October 1973, to officially end the war.
The Yom Kippur War had far-reaching implications; the Arab world had experienced humiliation in the lopsided rout of the Egyptian–Syrian–Jordanian alliance in 1967 but felt psychologically vindicated by early and late successes in the 1973 war. The Israelis recognized that, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, there was no guarantee that they would always dominate the Arab states militarily, as they had done consistently throughout the First, Second and Third Arab–Israeli Wars; these changes paved the way for the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. At the 1978 Camp David Accords that followed the war, Israel returned the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, which led to the subsequent 1979 Egyptian–Israeli peace treaty, marking the first instance that an Arab country recognized Israel as a legitimate state. Following the achievement of peace with Israel, Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and eventually left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.
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^ abMahjoub Tobji (2006). Les officiers de Sa Majesté: Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956–2006. 107: Fayard. ISBN978-2-213-63015-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ abRa’anan, G. D. (1981). The Evolution of the Soviet Use of Surrogates in Military Relations with the Third World, with Particular Emphasis on Cuban Participation in Africa. Santa Monica: Rand Corporation. p. 37
^Asaf Siniver (2013). The Yom Kippur War: Politics, Legacy, Diplomacy. Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN978-0-19-933481-0. (p. 6) "For most Egyptians the war is remembered as an unquestionable victory—militarily as well as politically ... The fact that the war ended with Israeli troops stationed in the outskirts of Cairo and in complete encirclement of the Egyptian third army has not dampened the jubilant commemoration of the war in Egypt." (p. 11) "Ultimately, the conflict provided a military victory for Israel, but it is remembered as 'the earthquake' or 'the blunder'"
^P.R. Kumaraswamy (2013). Revisiting the Yom Kippur War. Routledge. p. 184. ISBN978-1-136-32888-6. (p. 184) "Yom Kippur War ... its final outcome was, without doubt, a military victory ... " (p. 185) " ... in October 1973, that despite Israel's military victory"
^(Hebrew: מלחמת יום הכיפורים, Milẖemet Yom HaKipurim, or מלחמת יום כיפור, Milẖemet Yom Kipur; Arabic: حرب أكتوبر, Ḥarb ʾUktōbar, or حرب تشرين, Ḥarb Tišrīn),