Yom Kippur War 1973 at the Waldorf Historia Hotel in the early hours, secretary of State Henry Kissinger was woken in his suite with the news of military activity in the Middle East. At 2 p.m. in the Middle East, Egypt and Syria launched a war against Israel on two fronts.
After three years in power, Egyptian president Anwir Sadat has grown tired of peace initiatives that seemed to be going finished. Ahmed Maher, Egyptian Foreign minister, revealed that “now where know fair mediators had not been successful in solving the problem and the United States was the main supporter of Israel, and it was clear that if you wanted to solve the problem, you would have to do two things either go to war or try to convince the Americans to move in the right direction.”
Two weeks into the war and with the opposing forces locked in a stalemate, Henry Kissinger arrived in Moscow; his main goal was to agree on a UN ceasefire acceptable to Egypt-soviet Allies, and within two days, UN Security Council Resolution 338 had been accepted by both the Soviets and the Americans.
On October 6th, 1973, the Egyptians mounted a lightning attack across the Suez Canal. Their goal was to liberate the Sinai Peninsula occupied by Israel 6 years earlier on the sixth day. The two field armies of 100,000 men had established bridgeheads 10km deep in the Sinai.
During the first week of war, Israelis have lost equipment at an unprecedented rate. In contrast, 500 hundred tanks and 50 aircraft to an Egyptian Army equipped with the latest soviet weaponry, hand-held anti-tanks, and sophisticated Surface-to-air missiles.
Yom Kippur War
The operation, named Nickel, Gross, was launched by Americans on October 14th to provide weapons, electronic equipment, and two anti-tank missiles to Israelis. Throughout the whole war, the Israelis were receiving ammunition, which was sent straight off by planes and ships. Reinforced with American arms, the Israelis now formed a bold plan to cross the canal at a gap that was identified between the two Egyptian field armies, and the project was called stouthearted men.
During the second week of the war and after fierce fighting, the Israelis succeeded in crossing to the Egyptian mainland on the West bank of the canal. Three armored Divisions and 600 tanks formed as Israeli bridgeheads.
President Sadat claimed the Israeli operation was a mere television stunt and an attempt to cover up Israeli failures in the first week of the war. Egyptian Special forces working in small groups used the lush undergrowth to set ambushes for the Israeli troops.
The author of the book “Gamal Hammad” revealed that “President Sadat set his mind on the eastern side of the canal ever since the Egyptian army took over the bridgeheads. He believed that we should never leave the East, whatever happened, so he gave orders that not even one rifle should be pulled out from East to West. Chesley, who had been the masterminded of Egypt’s success, was sidelined, and from then, President Sadat and his war Minister, General Ahmed Ismail, would take all the decisions.
At the time, Hussnie Mubarak, the Air Force commander, ordered his pilots into the Air; the Egyptian pilots were facing difficulties from the Israelis from the ground, and the Israelis came across a mobile air defense system, Hawk Missiles.
After the two weeks of war, it seemed all this bloodshed was about to come to an end. In New York, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 338, calling for a ceasefire. The US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Scali, said,” Mr. President, we believe that the resolution now before we will, if faithfully implemented by all concerned, result in the prompt and effective establishment of a true cease-fire in the Middle East, and nothing could be more important as a step towards peace.”
Battle on the Western side of the canal, Egypt had lost hundreds of men; two of its senior commanders, Brigadier Ahmed Abu El Zomor and Ibrahim EL Rifai, had died in the fighting, but despite these losses, the Egyptians successfully stopped the Israelis from achieving the strategic goal, of stouthearted men.
After some time in New York, on October 23rd, the Security Council issued resolution 339; it called for a new ceasefire to go into effect at 7:00 a.m. the following day. However, Israel was to break this second ceasefire.
Yom Kippur War, After 1967, the city found itself on the front line between Egypt and Israeli-occupied Sinai. Rubble city of a quarter of a million people now lav virtually abundant. Early on October 24th, just as the new ceasefire was scheduled to start, the Israeli tanks and paratroops moved into the semi-deserted city. Still, they soon encountered stiff resistance from a small town Militia, resulting in the driving of Israelis from the city, losing 80 dead and 120 wounded. To this day, the destroyed Israeli tanks remain a testimony to the courageous resistance in Suez.
Faced with the possibility of a spiral towards a nuclear war, the Soviet Union, on October 25th, stepped back, and the alert of the 3rd level by the United States was diffused. Henry Kissinger, looking at the serious step taken by the Soviet Union for peace, said,” We do not consider ourselves in a confrontation with the Soviet Union, and we do not believe it necessary at this moment to have a conflict; in fact, we are prepared to work cooperatively towards the realization of the objectives.”
Yom Kippur War. On October 25th, the UN Security Council issued resolution 340, the third and less than four days to finally impose a ceasefire in the Middle East. The following day, the Vanguard of a new UN emergency force arrived at the Suez Front; however, the natural lines of demarcation were not drawn.
