The Six-Day War was fought from 5–10 June 1967 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, with military contributions from Iraq and others. It reshaped the political map of the Middle East and remains a foundational reference point for the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Tensions had escalated in May 1967 when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) from the Sinai, massed troops along the Israeli border, and on 22 May closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping — a move Israel had previously declared a casus belli. Defense pacts between Egypt, Syria, and Jordan followed.
On 5 June, Israel launched Operation Focus, a preemptive air strike that destroyed the bulk of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground within hours. Ground operations followed in the Sinai against Egypt, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem against Jordan, and on the Golan Heights against Syria. By 10 June, Israel held the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights — roughly tripling the territory under its control.
The war's diplomatic legacy is centered on UN Security Council Resolution 242 (22 November 1967), which called for "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict" alongside acknowledgment of every state's right to live in peace within secure boundaries. The ambiguity of "territories" versus "the territories" has been debated ever since. Resolution 242 became the basis for the land-for-peace framework underlying the 1978 Camp David Accords, the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, the 1993 Oslo Accords, and the 1994 Israel–Jordan Treaty.
Consequences include the displacement of an estimated 300,000+ Palestinians, the start of Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the unification of Jerusalem under Israeli administration, and a profound crisis of legitimacy for Arab nationalism — often cited as a catalyst for the rise of Palestinian nationalism (notably the PLO under Yasser Arafat after 1969) and political Islam.
Example
In June 1967, Israeli forces captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six-Day War, an event still invoked in UN debates over the status of the city.
Frequently asked questions
Major combat operations lasted from 5 June to 10 June 1967 — six days — before ceasefires were accepted on all fronts.
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