From Where It All Started: Six-Day War And Israel's Occupation Of Gaza

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its 'shock and awe' attacks last week. The supply of water and electricity to Gaza has been stopped by Israel as the war entered the next phase. Over 3,600 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza, with a probability of an escalation in the coming days.

The brutal attacks launched from Gaza have brought the six-day war in 1967 between Israel and Arabs back into focus. The two intifadas (Palestinian uprising), the emergence of Hamas, relentless rocket attacks from Gaza and Israel's brutal crackdown are rooted in the seismic events of the six-day war that fundamentally reshaped the Middle East.

Prelude To The Six-Day War

Since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, Israel has been surrounded by sworn foes. Before the 1967 war, Israel was on the battlefield twice - First in 1948, soon after its creation and the second time in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. 

The animosity between Arab states and Israel never simmered down. Fedayeen (Arab Guerillas) attacks on Israel and the economic boycott worsened the situation. 

Two months before the war, an air battle between Syria and Israel took place in which six Syrian MiGs were shot down by Israel. The Egyptian blockade of the Israeli ships through the Strait of Tiran in the Gulf of Aqaba a few weeks before was the last nail in the coffin.

There's one more narrative which is less widely discussed; Israel's nuclear weapons programme. Hassan Elbahtimy, a senior professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, in his research paper examines whether Israel's quest to acquire nuclear weapons was one of the reasons behind the Arab offensive.

Preemptive Strikes And The Six-Day War

The Soviet Union reportedly provided false information to Egypt that Israel is planning for a full-scale invasion of Syria. Egypt, in response, started amassing troops in the Sinai Peninsula and the war was inevitable. The Syria-Jordan-Egypt belligerence, supported by Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, heavily outnumbered Israel, but proper operational planning was the key to Israel's success.

Precisely, at 7:45 a.m. on June 5, Israel launched preemptive strikes on Egyptian airfields under 'Operation Focus', taking the enemy by surprise, which did not anticipate any Israeli offensive. At that time, Egypt's air force was the strongest in the region and was capable of striking major Israeli cities with its long-range bombers and fighter jets. 

Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, said, "Know your enemy and know yourself and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." Israel soon realised that a lone ground assault in the Sinai would meet deadly results and destroying Egyptian air dominance should be the first step to help armour, artillery and troops to manoeuver against the Egyptian Army.

Israel chose the Egyptian Army as its Centre of Gravity (COG) and preemptive air strikes facilitated a ground offensive, writes Ronald D Jones in his analysis of the war for US Naval War College.

In just three hours, Israel destroyed 19 Egyptian airfields and shot 318 aircraft on the ground and four in the air. Israel launched offensive air operations against Syria and Jordan after they attacked to avoid any multi-front war in the beginning. Israel had complete air dominance over the Sinai Peninsula and the Egyptian army had almost no air support against Israeli air attack.

A false report suggesting Egyptian victory on day 1 tempted Jordan to strike on Israel but it resulted in an Israeli counter-offensive and the takeover of the West Bank region along with East Jerusalem. Between June 9 and June 10, the Golan Heights in Syria along Israel's northeastern border witnessed some intense fighting.

For Israel, it was an uphill battle in Golan Heights. Syrian troops were in an advantageous position and Israel had to amass more troops to take on Syria but air strikes on Golan Heights to soften the enemy positions helped facilitate an Israeli ground assault and the positions were captured. 

On June 11, a UN-brokered cease-fire was announced and Israel had more territory under its control, they captured the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, West Bank and the Golan Heights. Over 1 million Arabs were now under Israeli control after the six-day war. Israel's offensive strategy for a war of attrition limited it to a short war.

Aftermath

An Israel-Egypt peace treaty ended the Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, though control over Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights continued. In 2005, Israel completely disengaged from Gaza, but after the takeover by Hamas, rocket attacks against Israel have increased exponentially.

Over the years, Israel's brutal crackdown on Palestinians in Gaza and other occupied areas and reported human rights violations have been raised multiple times even by the UN.

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