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Egyptian forces crossing the Suez Canal on October 7
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| Conflict | Yom Kippur War/October War | | Date | October 6 � October 26, 1973 | | Location | Sinai Peninsula and west bank of Suez Canal, Golan Heights and other regions in southern Syria | | Result | *Israeli tactical victory and a UN cease-fire after UNSCR 338, 339 and 340, leading to the Geneva Conference and the Sinai Interim Agreement.
*Political and strategic gains for Egypt and Israel
*See long-term effects | Egypt
Syria
Arab Expeditionary Forces:
Iraq
Jordan
Morocco
Saudi Arabia
Libya
Kuwait
Algeria
Sudan
Other Expeditionary Forces:
Cuba
North Korea | | Israel | Anwar Sadat
Hafez al-Assad
Ahmad Ismail Ali
Mustafa Tlass
Saad El Shazly
General Shakkour
Abdel Ghani el-Gammasy
Hosni Mubarak
Naji Jamil
Abdul Munim Wassel
Abd-Al-Minaam Khaleel
Mohammed Aly Fahmy
Abu Zikry
Omar Abrash | Golda Meir
Moshe Dayan
David Elazar
Shmuel Gonen
Haim Bar-Lev
Israel Tal
Yitzhak Hofi
Benjamin Peled
Benjamin Telem
Rafael Eitan
Moshe Peled
Albert Mandler
Abraham Adan
Ariel Sharon
Kalman Magen | Egypt: 300,000 deployed (100,000 crossed), 1,700 tanks (1,020 crossed),[ 400 combat aircraft, 140 helicopters, 104 Navy vessels, 150 surface to air missile batteries (62 in the front line) ]
Syria: 60,000 deployed (28,000 in initial offensive), 1,200 tanks, 800 � 900 armored carriers, 600 artillery units,[ 350 aircraft, 36 helicopters, 21 Navy vessels, 36 surface to air missile batteries (25 in the front line)]
Iraq: 30,000 troops, 250 � 500 tanks,[ 73 aircraft]
| 415,000 troops,
2,300 tanks,
3,000 armored carriers,
945 artillery units,
440 combat aircraft,
84 helicopters,
160 other kinds of aircraft,
38 Navy vessels | 8,000
18,000-35,000 wounded
8,372 captured Egyptians
392 captured Syrians
13 captured Iraqis
6 captured Moroccans
2,300 tanks destroyed or captured
341
19 naval vessels including 10 missile boats sunk
| 2,521
7,250-8,800 wounded
293 captured
400 tanks destroyed
600 tanks damaged and returned to service
102 planes destroyed |
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The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War ( ; transliterated: Milẖemet Yom HaKipurim or מלחמת יום כיפור, Milẖemet Yom Kipur; ; transliterated: ħarb October or حرب تشرين, ħarb Tishrin), also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to October 26, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states backing Egypt and Syria. The war began with a joint surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egypt and Syria respectively crossed cease-fire lines to enter the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, which had been captured and occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War. The conflict had all the elements of a severe international crisis, and ended with a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, both of whom launched massive resupply efforts to their allies during the war.
The war began with a massive and successful Egyptian attack across the heavily-fortified Suez Canal during the first three days, after which they dug in, and the southern front settled into a stalemate. In the north, the Syrians simultaneously attacked the critical Golan Heights and initially achieved threatening gains, after which their momentum waned. Within a week, Israel repelled the Syrian attack and launched a four-day counter-offensive, driving deeper into Syria. To relieve this pressure, the Egyptians renewed their offensive, but decisively failed to advance; the Israelis then counterattacked at the seam between two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal, and advanced southward and eastward in over a week of heavy fighting. Israel encircled elements of Egypt's Third Army after an agreed United Nations ceasefire resolution. This initially prompted tension between the superpowers, but a ceasefire was imposed cooperatively on October 25 to end the war. By the end of the fighting, Israeli forces were 40 kilometers from Damascus and 101 kilometers from Cairo.
The war had far-reaching implications for many nations. The Arab World, which had been humiliated by the lopsided rout of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance during the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by successes early in the conflict. In Israel, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, the war effectively ended the sense of invincibility and complacency. The war also challenged many American assumptions and it pursued newfound efforts at mediation and peacemaking. These changes combined paved the way for the subsequent peace process. The Camp David Accords that followed brought the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations-the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and left the Soviet sphere entirely.
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