In just six days of the Third Middle East War, from June 5 to June 10, 1967, Israeli forces overwhelmed Arab coalition forces. At the end of the Third Middle East War, the bodies of Israeli soldiers killed on the Syrian front, where Israeli forces fought Syrian troops, lay on the desert. Surviving Israeli soldiers wailed and prayed silently over the bodies of their fellow Israeli war dead. Israel called it the Six-Day War.
On May 18, 1967, Arab Union President Nasser demanded the withdrawal of UN troops stationed in the Gaza Strip in the Sinai Peninsula. When the UN accepted the withdrawal, it declared a blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba on May 22. UN Secretary General U Thant met with President Nasser in Cairo to resolve the situation. Meanwhile, preparations for fighting between Israeli and Arab coalition forces were underway.
In the early morning hours of Monday, June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force targeted the Arab Coalition Air Force, almost destroying airplanes of the Arab countries. Israeli forces rapidly invaded the desert areas of the Sinai Peninsula from three directions, cutting off the approximately 100,000 Arab Coalition forces deployed in the Sinai Peninsula from retreat at the Mitla Pass. Israeli forces were on the defensive on the Syrian front. A fierce battle with Jordanian forces broke out around the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, June 6, invading about two-thirds of the way from the Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal and occupying the Palestinian Gaza Strip in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Israeli forces headed for the former Jerusalem entered the Jerusalem city center, engaging in fierce battles with Jordanian forces. On the Syrian front, the Syrian army intensified its bombardment. The UN Security Council passed a resolution for an immediate ceasefire.
On Wednesday, June 7, Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula reached a point about 35 km from the Suez Canal, beginning the full withdrawal of Arab coalition forces. Israeli forces occupied the Old City of Jerusalem and entered the Wall of Lamentation, a Jewish holy site. The blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba was lifted with the capture of Sharm el-Sheikh, which controls the Gulf. Jordan was entrusted with an immediate UN ceasefire.
On Thursday, June 8, Israeli forces reached the Suez Canal, ending organized resistance in the Sinai Peninsula. The battleship Liberty was bombed by Israeli fighter planes as it sailed through the Mediterranean Sea off the northern Sinai Peninsula coast. The Arab coalition accepted the UN proposal for an immediate ceasefire.
On Friday, June 9, Israeli forces broke through the Syrian defenses in several places with an onslaught on the Syrian army's mountain positions. President Nasser Arab Coalition announced his resignation, but the parliament and the public strongly demanded his withdrawal. Arab refugees in Jerusalem left and flowed into Jordanian territory.
On Saturday, June 10, Israeli forces made a full-scale invasion from the Syrian front. Arab Coalition President Nasser withdrew his resignation statement. In the Six Day War, Arab Coalition forces suffered over 2,000 casualties. The Israeli army suffered less than 1,000 casualties.
On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence. Arab states invaded Israeli territory and the Palestinian War erupted, resulting in a truce in 1949; in the fall of 1956, the Nasser Arab Coalition declared the nationalization of the Suez Canal, which led to the Suez War. Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula; a truce was reached in November 1956, and the Gulf of Aqaba was declared an international waterway in the spring of 1957. With the end of the Six-Day War, the attitude of Middle Eastern countries toward Israel was cold, and even the U.S. demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from the occupied territories. Soviet Prime Minister Kosygin delivered a speech at the United Nations condemning Israel. Meanwhile, the Arab countries' desire for retaliation remained strong.
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