Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Oren Michael B

Author:Oren, Michael B. [Oren, Michael B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, War, Politics
ISBN: 9780345461926
Amazon: 0345461924
Goodreads: 225897
Publisher: Presidio Press
Published: 2001-06-06T07:00:00+00:00

THE WAR: DAY TWO, JUNE 6

Israeli advances and Arab retreats.

America on war and peace.

ldquo;Big Lies” and cease-fires.

Hough fifty-three years old and paunchy, the director of Israel’s Nature Protection Society, Avraham Yoffe, was a seasoned fighter in Sinai. In 1956, he had led an infantry column down the peninsula’s eastern coast to capture Sharm al-Sheikh. Later, as head of the Southern Command, he developed contingency plans for moving tanks over desert wastes that were widely believed insurmountable. Summoned a few weeks before the war by Gen. Gavish, Yoffe had arrived at camp in civilian clothes, thinking the was making a courtesy call. He returned in a brigadier general’s uniform and took charge of the 31st Ugdah with its two reserve brigades, each with 100 tanks. His assignment was to penetrate Sinai south of Tal’s forces and north of Sharon’s, dividing the two fronts and preventing enemy reinforcements from reaching either. Then, dashing eastward, he would attack Egypt’s second line of defense while its first was still busy fighting.

Yoffe’s initial objective, taking the vital road junctions of Abu ‘Ageila, Bir Lahfan, and al-‘Arish, had already been accomplished before midnight. “We received information that two Egyptian armored brigades were approaching,” Yissachar Shadmi, commanding twenty-four Centurions, later related. “They had turned off all their lights, and my forward observer reported, ‘I can’t see them!’ I told him, ‘shoot blindly,’ and our first barrage blew up seven vehicles. The Egyptians then spread out in the dunes and a bitter battle ensued, lasting from 11 P.M. to 10 A.M. the next morning.” Israeli planes completed the work begun by Shadmi, and by midday, the desert was strewn with burning wrecks. The Egyptians fled westward, toward Jabal Libni, which the Israelis regrouped to attack.

The thrust to Egypt’s center enabled Tal and Sharon to complete the unfinished business of the previous day—conquering the Jiradi Defile, Khan Yunis, and the bastions at Umm Qatef. Each of these battles was savage. Having pressed a frontal attack through Abu ‘Ageila, Sharon’s Centurions launched their main thrust against Umm Qatef, the main Egyptian redoubt, only to find the approaches thickly mined and cratered. When IDF engineers finally cleared a path, at 4:00 A.M., Israeli and Egyptian tanks engaged in intense combat, at ranges as close as ten yards. Forty Egyptian and nineteen Israeli tanks were left side by side, smoldering. Kuti Adam’s infantry, meanwhile, completed its clearance of the triple-tier trenches. Israeli casualties were 14 dead and 41 wounded, as opposed to the 300 Egyptians killed and 100 taken prisoner.

Sharon’s men passed the morning cleaning up around Umm Qatef and preparing to seize al-Qusayma in the southeast. Meanwhile, to the north, Col. Gonen’s tanks managed to smash through the Jiradi Pass—again—to link up with forward elements stranded on its western side. These, however, had not waited for relief, but had advanced to the outskirts of al-‘Arish. Gonen rushed to reunite with them and, after receiving supplies via airdrop, proceeded to al-‘Arish airport, which he captured at 7:50. Yet the battle was far from finished.

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