Following is a timeline of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
* Oct. 6, 1973 – Egypt and Syria launch a coordinated attack on Israeli positions along the Suez Canal and in the Golan Heights. Egyptian troops cross the canal, secure a beachhead in the eastern portion of the Sinai Desert, breaching Israel’s Bar-Lev line. Syrian troops defeat Israeli forces on Mt. Hermon in northern Israel.
* Oct. 7, 1973 – Syria captures most of the southern portion of the Golan Heights.
* Oct. 8, 1973 – Israel launches its first counterattack against Egypt, which is unsuccessful. The Soviet Union supplies additional arms to Syria and Egypt.
* Oct. 9, 1973 – Against orders, reserve Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon launches a counterattack against Egyptian forces in the canal area. Sharon’s actions lead to moves for his dismissal.
* Oct. 9, 1973 – U.S. Jewish leader Max Fisher urges President Richard Nixon in a meeting at the White House to “please send the Israelis what they need.” That night, Nixon tells Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir that “all your aircraft and tank losses will be replaced.” * Oct. 10, 1973 – Washington authorizes an airlift of military supplies to Israel after the Soviet Union sends additional arms to Egypt. Israel successfully attacks Egyptian troops that had moved out of range of their protective surface- to-air-missile umbrella. Israel has recaptured most of the territory in the southern Golan.
* Oct. 11, 1973 – Israel attacks Syria from its positions on the Golan Heights. The Soviet Union’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, tells U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that Soviet airborne forces are on the alert to defend Damascus. Kissinger warns Dobrynin that if the Soviet forces sent troops to the Middle East, the United States would as well.
* Oct. 12-13, 1973 – The United States sends additional arms shipments to Israel.
* Oct. 14, 1973 – In one of the largest tank-to-tank battles ever fought, Israel is estimated to have lost 10 tanks, the Egyptians anywhere from 250 to 300. Iraq and Jordan send troops to the Golan, in response to appeals for assistance from Syria.
* Oct. 16, 1973 – The first Israeli troops cross the Suez Canal. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat asks the Soviet Union to convene the United Nations and seek a cease-fire.
* Oct. 17, 1973 – Ten Arab member-nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announce they will cut oil production until Israel withdraws from Arab territory captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and the rights of the Palestinian people were “restored.” The embargo was not completely lifted until March 1974.
* Oct. 20, 1973 – Israeli forces reach within 10 miles of Damascus.
* Oct. 21, 1973 – Israeli forces, led by reserve Maj. Gen. Avraham Adan, encircle the Egyptian Third Army. Forces led by Sharon take up positions less than 40 miles from Cairo.
* Oct. 22, 1973 – Israel overtakes all Syrian positions on Mt. Hermon. The United Nations adopts Security Council Resolution 338, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, the implementation of Security Resolution 242, which called for an exchange of land for peace and negotiations between the “parties concerned” aimed at establishing a “just and durable peace.”
* Oct. 23, 1973 –Fighting continues despite the cease-fire. The United Nations Security Council passes Resolution 339, which restated the group’s call an immediate cease-fire and called for the dispatch of U.N. observers to the area. * Oct. 24, 1973– A second cease-fire is put into effect, but fighting continues between Egypt and Israel. As a result, the Soviet Union threatens the United States that it will send troops to support the Egyptians. The United States puts its nuclear forces on a higher alert. The Soviet Union withdraws its threat the following day.
* Oct. 28, 1973– Israeli and Egyptian military leaders meet to implement the cease-fire at Kilometer 101 marker in the Sinai. It is the first meeting between military representatives of the two countries in 25 years.
Israel has lost roughly 2,500 soldiers, Syria 3,500. Egyptian casualties are unknown.
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