Sinai Front: Sheikh Zuweid

On the first day of the 67 War, units of the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade were ordered to attack the forward elements of the Egyptian 7th Infantry Division located around the town of Rafah on the southern end of the …

1967-06-05

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On the first day of the 67 War, units of the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade were ordered to attack the forward elements of the Egyptian 7th Infantry Division located around the town of Rafah on the southern end of the Gaza Strip. Although the Israelis easily overran the forward positions at Rafah, they encountered the main elements of the Egyptian 7th Infantry Division in heavily fortified positions at Sheikh Zuweid about five miles further down the road west of Rafah. Here the Israelis split their brigade up into multiple battalion size task forces, some which struck the Egyptian positions from the front, while others went on wide flanking maneuvers and hit the Egyptian positions in the rear. At first the Egyptians put up a stiff defense but as they were attacked in the rear, their defense quickly collapsed and the Israelis broke through with light losses. The 7th Brigade then continued its advance toward El Arish, leaving the remnants of the Egyptian 7th Infantry Division to be mopped up by Eitan's Paratroop Brigade.

Sheikh Zuweid, Sinai

The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between 5 and 10 June 1967 between Israel and Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. Relations between Israel and its neighbours were not normalised after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1956 Israel invaded the Sinai peninsula in Egypt, with one of its objectives being the reopening of the Straits of Tiran that Egypt had blocked to Israeli shipping since 1950. Israel was eventually forced to withdraw but was guaranteed that the Straits of Tiran would remain open. A United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was deployed along the border, but there was no demilitarisation agreement.

Wikipedia: Six Day War

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