Operation Badr (1973)

Operation Badr
Part of the Yom Kippur War
Egyptian military vehicles crossing the Suez Canal over one of the bridgeheads, 7 October 1973
Date 6–8 October 1973 Location Sinai Peninsula, Egypt Result Egyptian victory[1] Territorial changes Fall of Israel's Bar-Lev Line
Belligerents
Israel	Egypt
Commanders and leaders
David Elazar Shmuel Gonen Albert Mandler Avraham Adan Ariel Sharon	Ahmad Ismail Ali Saad el-Shazly Saad Mamoun Abdul Munim Wassel
Strength
6 October: 1 division 8,000 infantry (460–600 in the Bar-Lev Line)[2][3][4][5] 300–360 tanks 8 October: 3 divisions 640 tanks	6 October:[6] 32,000 infantry 7 October:[7] 200 tanks 8 October:[8] 5 divisions 90,000 infantry 980 tanks
Casualties and losses
950 killed 2,000 wounded 400 tanks destroyed[9]	280 killed 20 tanks destroyed[9]

Operation Badr (Arabic: عملية بدر ʻAmaliyat Badr), also known as Plan Badr (خطة بدر Khitat Badr), was an Egyptian military offensive and operation across the Suez Canal that destroyed the Bar-Lev Line, a chain of Israeli fortifications along the frontline of the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, on 6 October 1973. It was launched in conjunction with a Syrian military offensive against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, triggering the Yom Kippur War. During the War of Attrition, which preceded Operation Badr, both Egypt and Syria (previously constituents of the United Arab Republic) had been seeking to recover the territories that Israel had captured from them during the 1967 Arab–Israeli War.

The Egyptians had begun preparing for the offensive with training exercises in 1968, followed by operational planning from 1971 onward, including a deceptive operation. In the opening stages of the attack, known as "the crossing" (العبور al-'obour), Egyptian combat engineers utilized water cannons to rapidly clear numerous passages through the sand wall lining the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, simultaneously laying bridges and operating ferries that allowed armoured vehicles to cross into Israeli-controlled territory.

Israel's military was surprised by the scale of the attack, and by 7 October, the Egyptians had completed their crossing; the Israelis' eastern bank was captured and occupied by five Egyptian infantry divisions, which subsequently established defensive positions on bridgeheads spanning the 160-kilometre (99 mi) frontline. Following a lull in the fighting on 7 October, Israeli armour reserves arrived at the Suez Canal and launched a counterattack against the Egyptians opposite to the city of Ismailia. However, Egypt's military was successful in employing anti-tank weapons to repel the Israeli assault and advanced once more. By the end of 8 October, Egypt had occupied a strip of territory along the entire eastern bank of the Suez Canal to a depth of approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi).

In addition to the crossing, Egypt had successfully implemented a naval blockade against Israel in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Though Israel ultimately won the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, the sweeping success of Egyptian troops in the initial stages of the conflict, including Operation Badr, is specially commemorated by the 6th of October Panorama in Egypt's Cairo and by the October War Panorama in Syria's Damascus. In Cairo, the 6th of October Bridge is named for the date on which Operation Badr commenced.