War of Attrition

War of Attrition
Part of the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Cold War
The Israeli–Egyptian war of Attrition was centered largely on the Suez Canal.
Date July 1, 1967 – August 7, 1970 (ceasefire) (3 years, 1 month and 6 days) Location Sinai Peninsula (Israeli controlled) Result Egyptian front: Both sides claim victory[3] Continued Israeli control of Sinai Creation of the Bar Lev Line
Belligerents
Israel	Egypt  Soviet Union  Kuwait[1] PLO  Jordan  Syria[2]  Cuba
Commanders and leaders
Zalman Shazar Levi Eshkol Yigal Allon Haim Bar-Lev Ariel Sharon Uzi Narkiss Mordechai Hod Shlomo Erell Avraham Botzer	Gamal Abdel Nasser Ahmad Ismail Ali Anwar El Sadat Saad El Shazly Abdul Munim Riad † Ali Baghdady Fouad Abou Zikry Mahmoud Fahmy Andrei Grechko King Hussein Zaid ibn Shaker Amer Khammash Yasser Arafat Abu Iyad
Strength
275,000 (including reserves)	Egyptian: 200,000 Soviet: 10,700–15,000[4] Jordanian: 15,000[5] PLO: 900–1,000[6][7]
Casualties and losses
694[8]–1,424[9] soldiers killed 227 civilians killed[8] 2,659 wounded, from this 999 at the Egyptian front[8] 24[10]–30[11] aircraft	Egypt: 2,882[12]–10,000[10] soldiers and civilians killed 6,285 wounded[13] 60[11]–114[14] aircraft lost PLO: 1,828 killed 2,500 captured[15] Jordan: 300 killed[16] 4 captured 30 tanks Soviet Union: 58+ dead[17] 5 aircraft Cuba: 180 dead 250 wounded[18] Syria: 500 killed[16]

The War of Attrition (Arabic: حرب الاستنزاف, romanized: Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; Hebrew: מלחמת ההתשה, romanized: Milḥemet haHatashah) 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 the issues at the heart of the Arab–Israeli conflict. The 1967 Arab League summit formulated in September the "three no's" policy, barring peace, recognition, or negotiations with Israel.^[19] Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser believed that only military initiative would compel Israel or the international community to facilitate a full Israeli withdrawal from Sinai,^[20][21] and hostilities soon resumed along the Suez Canal.

These initially took the form of limited artillery duels and small-scale incursions into Sinai, but by 1969, the Egyptian Army 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 raids.^[20][22] Hostilities continued until August 1970 and ended with a ceasefire.^[23] The frontiers remained the same as when the war began, with no real commitment to serious peace negotiations.