6 Day War Timeline
October 1956 – March 1957
March 8, 1965
-Nasser threatens Israel
Feb 22, 1967
-President of Syria threatens Israel
May 13, 1967
-Russia knowingly gives false information to Egypt regarding an invasion in Syria
May 14, 1967
-Israel learns that Egypt’s troops are on high alert
-Egypt issued an alert of war (troops will go to war)
May 15, 1967
-Levi Eshkol (Israeli Prime Minister) sends troops to the Sinai Desert and sends a message to Egypt saying that it has no aggression towards any Arab country.
May 16, 1967
-Egypt moves forces towards the Sinai Desert and Israeli border
-More extinction threats towards Israel
May 18, 1967
-Egypt ejected the U.N. Troops from Gaza and the United Arab Republic
May 19, 1967
-The terrorist group, El Fatah, was attacking Israel
-Eshkol said to the President of France that Israel wouldn’t initiate hostilities unless Egypt infringed upon its free navigation through Straights of Tiran
-Eshkol said “Israel would stop at nothing to cancel the blockade. It is essential that President Nasser should not have any illusions.”
May 20, 1967
-Syria’s Secretary of Defense threatens Israel and calls for annihilation of Israel
-People begin to believe that war was inevitable (the peacekeepers, the U.N. Troops, that have been standing between the two countries are leaving after 10 years)
May 21, 1967
-New York Times report missing soldiers in the Sinai
May 22, 1967
-Nasser declares that Israeli ships are no longer allowed in the Gulf of Aquaba
-Syria wants a full fledged war against Israel
-An internal U.S. Memo states that Israel needs gas masks because of a possible chemical war
May 23, 1967
-Egypt closes the Straights of Tiran (Gulf of Aquaba)
-Israel prepared for war
-The U.S. condemned the blockade
May 24, 1967
-Britain joined in efforts to reverse the blockade
May 25, 1967
-More threats towards Israel were made against Israel
May 26, 1967
-Nasser says that the primary objective of war will be to annihilate Israel
-Israel prepared for war
May 27, 1967
-Nasser cancelled a strike planned for May 28, 1967, Operation Fajr (Dawn), because it became apparent that Israel knew about it
May 28, 1967
-Nasser says that they have been in a war with Israel since 1948
May 30, 1967
-Jordanian troops now are under the control of Nasser due to a military alliance
May 31, 1967
-The President of Iraq says that Israel needs to be wiped off the map
June 1, 1967
-Germany decides to send 20,000 gas masks to Israel because of a threat of biological warfare
June 2, 1967
-Britain starts a blood drive for blood banks in Israel
June 3, 1967
-Israelis are ordered by the defense minister not to “entangle Israel with the Jordanians”
June 4, 1967
-Jordan threatens Britain and U.S. saying that they will loose no longer have an alliance in the Arab world if they support Zionism.
SOURCES: Hyperlinked Sources, sixdaywar.co.uk
NOTE: Threats towards Israel refer to annihilation threats towards Israel
Day 1- first day of fighting. Israel destroys most of Egyptian air force, Jordan, Syria and Iraq attack Israel. Egyptian Air force Destroyed Picture
8:15 Am: Israel destroys Egyptian Air Force- fearing thousands of civilian losses by the Egyptian Air force, Israel preemptively strikes and destroys 311 Egyptian planes, most on the ground. Thirteen bases are rendered inoperable.
8:30 am: Israel sends message to Jordan, pledging no attack, if Jordan stays out of war, Israel passes message via Chief UN Observer Odd Bull to Jordan’s King Hussein. Israel promises not to attack if Jordan stays out of the war, but warns that Israel would respond forcefully otherwise.
9:30 am: Hussein informs his people that the “Hour of revenge has come”
10:00 Am: Jordan Attacks Israel. Nasser tells Hussein Egypt has inflicted staggering damage on Israel. Over 6000 shells hit Jewish Jerusalem, 900 buildings are damaged, including Hadassah Hospital. Twenty civilians die, over 1000 injured. “ Very heavy machine and mortar fire, probably cannon, continuous in Jerusalem’ British consul-general at around 11:30.
12:30 pm: Israel strikes Jordanian airfields in Mafraq and Amman. In response to Jordan’s attack, Israel seeks to destroy Jordanian air capabilities.
Day 2: Fighting continues of all fronts
2:00 Am and throughout the day Massive Syrian artillery barrage on Galilee communities. Over 250 guns shoot an estimated 45 tons of ammunition per minute on the towns.
5:50 AM: Due to mass destruction and wide spread fear and panic, massive Egyptian retreat begins
Afternoon: Lebanon attacks Israel with planes in the Galilee
4:30 PM: Israel and Jordan accept terms of UN cease fire, but Egypt and Syria do not.
11:30 PM: King Hussein of Jordan orders his troops to retreat, then reverses himself.
Day 3: Jerusalem taken, Blockade of Straits of Tiran broken
10:00 Am: “The Temple Mount is in our hands” – Israeli troops gain control over eastern Jerusalem, including the Olds City, home of the Jewish Quarter and the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount. Jews had been denied access to these sites during the nineteen years Jordan had occupied eastern Jerusalem despite stipulations of the 1948 Jordan-Israel armistice agreement. Israel leaves the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, Muslim holy sites in the Old City, under the administration of Muslim religious authorities.
12:15 pm: Israel breaks Straits of Tiran blockade: Israeli forces take control of Sharm al-Sheikh from Egypt. Israel opens the Straits of Tiran to all ships.
Throughout the day: Syria continues shelling Israel’s northern communities.
Day 4: Israel consolidates hold on West Bank
Israel Defense Forces take control of Hebron and other West Bank towns
Syria continues shelling northern Israeli communities
According to American ambassador Barbour, “Syrian shelling of kibbutzim and settlements in Israel has been continuous and incessant…Some kibbutzim have been completely leveled above ground.” This is because they agricultural based communities, which is also why the water supply was attacked.
Day 5: Israel and Syria in heavy fighting on the Golan
After first avoiding a ground war with Syria, Israel reverses course due to the incessant shelling and the realization that Israelis living in the north would never be safe if Syria controlled the Gollan Heights. While other Arab armies retreated, then Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad demanded his troops hunker down and “ Strike the enemy’s settlements, turn them into dust, page the Arab roads with the skulls of Jews. Strike them without mercy.”
Day 6: Israel gains control of the Golan Heights. Cease fire agreed to by all parties. Golan Heights Boundaries
June 19 1967
- Israeli Cabinet offers Syria and Egypt back the territories they gained in return for peace.
September 1 1967
- At an Arab Summit in Khartoum they created the Khartoum Resolution which stated that they will not negotiate or make peace with Israel. Khartoum Resolution
November 22 1967
- UN Security Council created resolution 242 which calls Israel to withdraw and for the establishment for peace. UN Resolution 242
