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Yom Kippur War

Yom Kippur War
Part of the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Cold War

Clockwise from top-left:
Date6–25 October 1973
(2 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Golan Heights, Sinai Peninsula, Suez Canal (both banks) and surrounding regions
Result Israeli military victory[24] (see aftermath)
Territorial
changes
  • Egyptian forces occupy the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, with the exception of the Israeli crossing point near the Deversoir Air Base[25]
  • 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[25]
  • 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[26]
Belligerents
 Israel Egypt
Syria
Expeditionary forces:
Commanders and leaders
Strength
  • 375,000[27]–415,000 troops
  • 1,700 tanks[28]
  • 3,000 armored carriers
  • 945 artillery units[29]
  • 440 combat aircraft
 Egypt:
  • 650,000[27]–800,000[30] troops (200,000 crossed)[citation needed]
  • 1,700 tanks (1,020 crossed)[31]
  • 2,400 armored carriers
  • 1,120 artillery units[29]
  • 400 combat aircraft
  • 140 helicopters[32]
  • 104 naval vessels
  • 150 surface-to-air missile batteries (62 in the front line)[33]
Syria:
  • 150,000[27] troops
  • 1,200 tanks
    800–900 armored carriers
  • 600 artillery units[29][34]
Expeditionary forces:
Saudi Arabia:
23,000 troops (3,000 crossed)[37][3][38][39]
Morocco:
Cuba:
Total:
  • 914,000–1,067,500 troops
  • 3,430–3,600 tanks
  • 3,900–4,000 armored carriers
  • 1,720 artillery units
  • 452 combat aircraft
  • 140 helicopters
  • 104 naval vessels
  • 150 surface-to-air missile batteries
Casualties and losses
  • 2,521[44]–2,800[45][46] dead
  • 7,250[47]–8,800[45] wounded
  • 293 captured
  • 400 tanks destroyed, 663 damaged or captured[48]
  • 407 armored vehicles destroyed or captured
  • 102–387 aircraft destroyed[49][50]
Egypt: 5,000[45]–15,000[51] dead
Syria:
Morocco:
Iraq:
  • 278 dead
  • 898 wounded[53]
  • 13 captured[52]
Cuba:
  • 180 dead
  • 250 wounded[6]
Jordan:
  • 23 dead
  • 77 wounded[53]
Total casualties:

The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War,[59] 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 states led by Egypt and Syria. Most of the fighting occurred in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, territories occupied by Israel in 1967. Some combat also took place in Egypt and northern Israel.[60][61][page needed] Egypt aimed to secure a foothold on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and use it to negotiate the return of the Sinai Peninsula.[62]

The war started on 6 October 1973, when the Arab coalition launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, which coincided with the 10th day of Ramadan.[63] The United States and Soviet Union engaged in massive resupply efforts for their allies (Israel and the Arab states, respectively),[64][65][66] which heightened tensions between the two superpowers.[67]

Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed their respective ceasefire lines with Israel, advancing into the Sinai and Golan Heights. Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal in Operation Badr and advanced into the Sinai, while Syrian forces gained territory in the Golan Heights. After three days, Israel halted the Egyptian advance and pushed most of the Syrians back to the Purple line. Israel then launched a counteroffensive into Syria, shelling the outskirts of Damascus.

Egyptian forces attempted to push further into Sinai but were repulsed, and Israeli forces crossed the Suez Canal, advancing toward Ismailia City on 18 October. Israeli forces were then defeated in the Battle of Ismailia and accepted a UN-brokered ceasefire.[68][69] On 22 October, the ceasefire broke down. Initially both sides accused each other of violations, however declassified documents revealed the United States had given Israel permission to breach the ceasefire and encircle the Egyptian Third Army and Suez City.[70] Israeli forces then advanced on Suez City, but were successfully repulsed in the ensuing battle amid stiff Egyptian resistance.[71] A second ceasefire was imposed on 25 October, officially ending the war.

The Yom Kippur War had significant consequences. The Arab world, humiliated by the 1967 defeat, felt psychologically vindicated by its early and late successes in 1973. Meanwhile, Israel, despite battlefield achievements, recognized that future military dominance was uncertain. These shifts contributed to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, leading to the 1978 Camp David Accords, when Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, the first time an Arab country recognized Israel. Egypt drifted away from the Soviet Union, eventually leaving the Eastern Bloc.

  1. ^ Edgar O'Ballance (1979). No Victor, No Vanquished: The Yom Kippur War (1979 ed.). Barrie & Jenkins. pp. 28–370. ISBN 978-0-214-20670-2.
  2. ^ Shazly (2003), p. 278.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rabinovich464-465 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference tlas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Mahjoub Tobji (2006). Les officiers de Sa Majesté: Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956–2006. Fayard. 107. ISBN 978-2-213-63015-1.
  6. ^ a b Ra’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
  7. ^ Shazly (2003), pp. 83–84.
  8. ^ Cenciotti, David. "Israeli F-4s Actually Fought North Korean MiGs During the Yom Kippur War". Business Insider.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference nicolle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aloni was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Herzog (1975), Foreword.
  12. ^ Insight Team of the London Sunday Times, p. 450.
  13. ^ Luttwak; Horowitz (1983). The Israeli Army. Cambridge, MA: Abt Books. ISBN 978-0-89011-585-5.
  14. ^ Rabinovich (2004). The Yom Kippur War. Schocken Books. p. 498.
  15. ^ Kumaraswamy, PR (2000). Revisiting The Yom Kippur War. Psychology Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-7146-5007-4.
  16. ^ Johnson & Tierney 2009, pp. 177, 180.
  17. ^ Liebman, Charles (July 1993). "The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur war in Israeli Society" (PDF). Middle Eastern Studies. 29 (3). London: Frank Cass: 411. doi:10.1080/00263209308700958. ISSN 0026-3206. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 May 2013.
  18. ^ "Milestones: 1969–1976 - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  19. ^ Simon Dunstan (18 September 2007). The Yom Kippur War: The Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Bloomsbury USA. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-84603-288-2.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ Asaf Siniver (2013). The Yom Kippur War: Politics, Legacy, Diplomacy. Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-19-933481-0. (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'"
  21. ^ Ian Bickerton (2012). The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Guide for the Perplexed. A&C Black. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-4411-2872-0. the Arab has suffered repeated military defeats at the hand of Israel in 1956, 1967, and 1973
  22. ^ P.R. Kumaraswamy (2013). Revisiting the Yom Kippur War. Routledge. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-136-32888-6. (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"
  23. ^ Loyola, Mario (7 October 2013). "How We Used to Do It – American diplomacy in the Yom Kippur War". National Review. p. 1. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  24. ^ See[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
  25. ^ a b Morris, 2011, Righteous Victims, p. 437
  26. ^ Morris, 2011 p. 433, "Bashan ... 500 square kilometers ... which brought it within 20 miles [32 km] of Damascus"
  27. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Rabinovich, p54 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Insight Team of the London Sunday Times, pp. 372–373.
  29. ^ a b c The number reflects artillery units of caliber 100 mm and up
  30. ^ Herzog (1975), p. 239.
  31. ^ Shazly (2003), p. 244.
  32. ^ Shazly (2003), p. 272.
  33. ^ Haber & Schiff, pp. 30–31.
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference knapp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rabinovich, 314 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ Bar-On, Mordechai (2004). A Never Ending Conflict. Greenwood Publishing. p. 170.
  37. ^ Neil Partrick (2016). Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Conflict and Cooperation. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-85772-793-0.
  38. ^ "بطولات السعوديين حاضرة.. في الحروب العربية". Okaz. 17 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference cmu1978 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ a b Touchard, Laurent (7 November 2013). "Guerre du Kippour : quand le Maroc et l'Algérie se battaient côte à côte". Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  41. ^ a b "Le jour où Hassan II a bombardé Israël". Le Temps. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  42. ^ Williams, John Hoyt (1 August 1988). "Cuba: Havana's Military Machine". The Atlantic. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  43. ^ The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965–1991. Routledge. 2004. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-134-26933-4.
  44. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  45. ^ a b c d e f g Gawrych (2000), p. 243.
  46. ^ Journal "الأهرام","Al Ahram". 14 October 1974
  47. ^ Rabinovich. The Yom Kippur War. p. 497.
  48. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rabinovich, 496 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  49. ^ Cite error: The named reference White House Military Briefing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  50. ^ "القوة الثالثة، تاريخ القوات الجوية المصرية." Third Power: History of Egyptian Air Force Ali Mohammed Labib. pp. 187
  51. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference autogenerated87 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  52. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference autogenerated2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  53. ^ a b Dunstan, p. 200.
  54. ^ Rabinovich p. 497
  55. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rabinovich, 496-7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  56. ^ Gawrych (2000), p. 244.
  57. ^ Cite error: The named reference Herzog, 260 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  58. ^ Herzog (1975), p. 269.
  59. ^ (Hebrew: מלחמת יום הכיפורים, Milẖemet Yom HaKipurim, or מלחמת יום כיפור, Milẖemet Yom Kipur; Arabic: حرب أكتوبر, Ḥarb ʾUktōbar, or حرب تشرين, Ḥarb Tišrīn),
  60. ^ Rabinovich, Abraham (2004). The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East. Schoken Books. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-8052-1124-5.
  61. ^ Herzog (1975).
  62. ^ James Bean and Craig Girard (2001). "Anwar al-Sadat's grand strategy in the Yom Kippur War" (PDF). National War College. pp. 1, 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  63. ^ Cite error: The named reference El-Gamasy 1993 181 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  64. ^ Cite error: The named reference GutfeldVanetik2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  65. ^ Rodman, David (29 July 2015). "The Impact of American Arms Transfers to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War". Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. 7 (3): 107–114. doi:10.1080/23739770.2013.11446570. S2CID 141596916. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  66. ^ Levey, Zach (7 October 2008). "Anatomy of an airlift: United States military assistance to Israel during the 1973 war". Cold War History. 8 (4): 481–501. doi:10.1080/14682740802373552. S2CID 154204359. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  67. ^ Quandt, William (2005). Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab–Israeli Conflict Since 1967 (third ed.). California: University of California Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-0-520-24631-7.
  68. ^ Hammad (2002), pp. 237–276
  69. ^ Gawrych (1996), p. 60.
  70. ^ "Kissinger Gave Green Light for Israeli Offensive Violating 1973 Cease-Fire;". The National Security Archive. 17 October 2024.
  71. ^ Geroux, John Spencer, Jayson (13 January 2022). "Urban Warfare Project Case Study #4: Battle of Suez City". Modern War Institute. Retrieved 28 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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