On the morning of June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force launched a preemptive strike that destroyed virtually the entire Egyptian Air Force on the ground. Within three hours, 300 Egyptian aircraft were smoking wrecks. It was the most devastatingly effective air offensive in modern military history — and it set the tone for a war that would last only six days but reshape the Middle East permanently. By the time a ceasefire took effect on June 10, Israel had captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank including East Jerusalem from Jordan. The combined territory was three times the size of pre-war Israel. Over one million Palestinians came under Israeli military occupation. The Six-Day War transformed Israel from a small, embattled state into a regional superpower — and created the territorial disputes and occupation that define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to this day.
Summary: The Six-Day War was fought from June 5 to 10, 1967, between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The war was preceded by a crisis: Egypt's Nasser expelled UN peacekeepers from Sinai, blockaded the Straits of Tiran, and massed troops on Israel's border. Israel launched a preemptive strike on June 5, destroying the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian air forces on the ground. In six days, Israel captured the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The war killed approximately 800 Israelis and 15,000-21,000 Arabs. UN Resolution 242 called for "withdrawal from territories occupied in the recent conflict" and "the right of every state in the area to live in peace" — a formula that remains the basis of all subsequent peace negotiations.
🔥 The Road to War: Nasser's Gamble
In May 1967, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president and hero of Arab nationalism, made a series of fateful decisions. On May 16, he demanded the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) from Sinai, where it had been stationed since the 1956 Suez Crisis to separate Egyptian and Israeli forces. UN Secretary-General U Thant complied. On May 22, Nasser announced a blockade of the Straits of Tiran, cutting off Israel's only Red Sea access. For Israel, this was a casus belli — a provocation that could not be tolerated. On May 30, Jordan's King Hussein, under immense pressure, signed a defense pact with Egypt. Syria, already in a pact with Egypt, massed troops on the Golan Heights. Israel was surrounded and, in its own eyes, facing an existential threat. Nasser's rhetoric gave Israel's fears credibility: "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel," he declared. Israel's government, led by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, authorized a preemptive strike.
Operation Focus — June 5, 1967, 7:45 AM
"The Israeli planes came in low, below the radar. Within three hours, the Egyptian Air Force no longer existed. 300 planes destroyed on the ground. Runways cratered. Pilots who had been eating breakfast were dead. It was the most perfect air offensive in history. The war was won in its first hours." — Military historian
🔱 Day by Day: The Six Days of War
Day 1 (June 5): Israel destroys the Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian air forces. Ground forces advance into Sinai and the West Bank. Day 2 (June 6): IDF captures Gaza and advances toward the Suez Canal. Jordanian forces pushed back in the West Bank. Day 3 (June 7): IDF captures East Jerusalem, including the Old City and the Western Wall. "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" — General Motta Gur. Jordan accepts ceasefire. Day 4 (June 8): IDF reaches the Suez Canal. Egyptian forces in Sinai routed. Egypt accepts ceasefire. Day 5 (June 9): IDF turns to the Golan Heights, attacking fortified Syrian positions. Day 6 (June 10): Golan Heights captured. Ceasefire takes effect. The war is over.
🕌 The Capture of Jerusalem
The most emotionally charged moment of the war came on June 7, when IDF paratroopers entered the Old City of Jerusalem. The city had been divided since 1948, with East Jerusalem (including the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) under Jordanian control. General Motta Gur's words over the radio — "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" — became the iconic phrase of the war. Israeli soldiers wept at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, which Jews had been barred from visiting for 19 years. The unification of Jerusalem under Israeli control was celebrated as a miracle — and it set the stage for one of the most intractable disputes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel annexed East Jerusalem shortly after the war, a move that has never been recognized internationally. For Palestinians, the occupation of East Jerusalem and the holy sites remains a deep and enduring wound.
🇵🇸 The Occupation: One Million Palestinians Under Israeli Rule
The Six-Day War placed approximately one million Palestinians under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. The Geneva Conventions, which Israel ratified, prohibit an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory. In the decades that followed, Israel built hundreds of settlements across the West Bank, eventually housing over 700,000 Israeli settlers. The occupation — the longest in modern history — has been condemned by the UN, the International Court of Justice, and human rights organizations worldwide. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. The war also triggered the second wave of Palestinian displacement — 300,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from the West Bank and Gaza into Jordan. The occupation created the central issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the demand for Palestinian statehood and the end of Israeli military rule.
📖 UN Resolution 242 and the Legacy of the War
On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict" and "the right of every State in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." The deliberate ambiguity of the language — "withdrawal from territories" rather than "from the territories" or "from all territories" — has fueled debate ever since. Resolution 242 remains the foundation of all subsequent peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The Six-Day War created the map of the contemporary Middle East. The territories captured in 1967 — the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights — remain at the heart of the region's conflicts. The war transformed Israel into an occupying power, empowered the settlement movement, and radicalized Palestinian resistance. Its consequences are still unfolding.