The Arab–Israeli War of Attrition, 1967–1973: Volume 3: Gaza, Jordanian Civil War, Golan and Lebanon Fighting, Continuing Conflict and Summary

By Bill Norton

The Arab-Israeli conflict persisted through two wars and ongoing border tensions. However, the Six-Day War of June 1967 was a cataclysm. Israel emerged victorious in a war with neighboring Arab states and in possession of occupied territory. The Arabs were furious at this outcome and determined to regain their lands and dignity by again making war with Israel. Added to the mix was a resurgent Palestinian liberation movement. Renewed fighting began within weeks. It became a period of sustained combat, casualties, fiscal outlay, and diplomacy on the world stage unlike anything experienced previously. All involved militaries remained very active over these years with more consistent mobilization, intensive training, and action than ever before. Each side deepened their dependence on superpower arms supply. The geopolitical stakes rose and Israel found itself fighting the Soviets indirectly on the borders and terrorist internationally. Adversary forces grew in size, adopted more complex weapons, and trained in new tactics, all in the tumult of combat of escalating intensity. The air forces of especially Israel and Egypt, then Syria, became especially active, growing in size and capabilities. They employed some of the most advanced weapons the USA and the USSR arrayed in their Cold War confrontation. The extent of the air war grew to extensive air defenses and long-range bombing plus deep photo reconnaissance. The danger of this sparking another general war with potential superpower involvement was high. This period is collectively referred to as the War of Attrition.

The named War of Attrition on the Suez Canal began on 8 March 1969 and ended with a cease fire 17 months later. However, combat beyond this area began even before this period and extended beyond.

Volume 3 focuses initially on the fighting across the Jordan River. This eventually led to a civil war in Jordan and battles between Jordanian and Syrian armored forces. Syria began more actively challenging Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights in summer 1970 and this grew over the next two years to almost periodic combat of increasing severity. The border with Lebanon also heated up with Palestinian attacks and Israeli responses that included a growing number of cross-border incursions and bombing. This brought Syrian reactions and pushed Lebanon towards anarchy. Tensions persisted on the southern front and the Palestinians took their struggle outside the region with a campaign of international terrorism. Both Egypt and Syria prepared to launch a war to liberate their occupied territories with little warning.

It was an extraordinary time of confrontation, irregular warfare, rising terrorism, and national struggles seldom seen before or since. It became the world’s most violent, costly, and dangerous conflict after that in Southeast Asia. At the center of it, Israel found herself engaged on all sides and isolated as never before. The struggle altered the geopolitical landscape and set the stage for the October 1973 war. Richly illustrated with photographs, maps, charts and tables, the reader will find new details and correction of previously published ‘facts.’ This is the most focused and clear account of these Arab-Israeli confrontation events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helion and Company
• Release date: Jul 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781804515259

Book preview

Contents

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Foreword and Acknowledgements

1Gaza Strip Hotbed

2Jordanian Civil War

3Fighting in the North

4Continuing Conflict

5Armed Camps

6After-Action Report

Appendices

ITimeline

II Fire Incidents and Casualty Data

III Significant Conventional Ground Operations

IV Special Forces Operations Summaries

VAviation Terrorism

VI Israeli Aircraft Lost and Damaged

VII Israeli Antiaircraft Kills

VIII Israeli Air-to-Air Kills

IX Arab Air-to-Air Kills

Bibliography

Further Reading

Endnotes

About the Author

Plates

NOTE

In order to simplify the use of this book, all names, locations and geographic designations are as provided in The Times World Atlas, or other traditionally accepted major sources of reference, as of the time of described events. Similarly, Arabic names are romanised and transcripted rather than transliterated. For example: the definite article al-before words starting with ‘sun letters’ is given as pronounced instead of simply as al- (which is the usual practice for non-Arabic speakers in most English-language literature and media). For the reasons of space, ranges – which are usually measured in feet and nautical miles in international aeronautics – are cited in metric measurements with English units in parenthesis.

COVER

Royal Jordanian Army Centurion tank crews ready their vehicles with a typical Jordanian settlement visible beyond. The guns of these tanks outranged those of the Syrian T-54/55s brought to bear in fighting during September 1970, and acquitted themselves well. (Albert Grandolini collection) The profile shows an RF-4E of 69 Squadron IAF, described fully in the colour section. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)

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Published by Helion & Company 2023

Cover designed by Paul Hewitt, Battlefield Design (www.battlefield-design.co.uk)

Text © Bill Norton 2023

Photographs © as individually credited

Colour artwork © David Bocquelet, Luca Canossa, Tom Cooper & Anderson Subtil 2023

Maps drawn by Tom Cooper and George Anderson © Helion & Company 2023

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The author and publisher apologise for any errors or omissions in this work, and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Following the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war tensions on the new borders soon flared anew. All the involved militaries remained very active over the next six years with more consistent mobilisation, intensive training, and action than ever before. As the combat grew in scope, the cost escalated in lives, materiel, and treasure. Each side deepened their dependence on superpower arms supply and mediation. The geopolitical stakes rose and Israel found itself fighting the Soviets indirectly on the borders and terrorists internationally. Adversary forces grew in size, adopted more complex weapons, and trained in new tactics, all in the tumult of combat of escalating intensity. Fallout from the conflict affected all the Arab states given the acrimony, public desire to punish Israel, and guerrillas acting from national territory bringing Israeli retaliation. These factors were destabilising to varying degrees with Arab-on-Arab violence growing and a shift to more radical policies.

This period is collectively referred to as the War of Attrition. It was an extraordinary time of confrontation, irregular warfare, rising terrorism, and national struggles seldom seen before or since. It became the world’s most violent, costly, and dangerous conflict after that in Southeast Asia. At the centre of it, Israel found herself engaged on all sides and isolated as never before. The struggle altered the geopolitical landscape and set the stage for the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

The named War of Attrition on the Suez Canal was begun by Egypt on 8 March 1969 and ended with a ceasefire 17 months later. While the ‘eye of the hurricane’, these volumes examine the interlocking Arab-Israeli conflict across the entire period with all combatants. Arab-on-Arab violence and Palestinian internecine struggles, tangential ‘fallout’ of the Arab-Israeli conflict, are addressed only as far as they affected that broader conflict. No attempt is made to document every military action on all the fronts. Such would fill many books. Being a book on war, deep excursions into national politics are also avoided. Given that concurrent events on the separate fronts are discussed in separate volumes and chapters, a timeline is presented in this final volume to help the reader appreciate the scope of the broad conflict.

I am well aware of the lingering animus regarding these events, with aspects of the conflict persisting to the present day. I do not have any personal connection to the events or participants, then or now. I worked for an honest and impartial account avoiding stereotypes and loaded labels or phrases. That I would still offend was understood, but it was not intentional.

I would like to thank E.R. (Ted) Hooton for his research on the Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian and Syrian armies which is incorporated in this work.

Bill Norton ([e-mail])

Tehachapi, California, 2023

1

GAZA STRIP HOTBED

The Israeli occupation of the densely populated Gaza Strip very much resembled that in the West Bank. Resistance was very light through 1968 but then grew greatly and included considerable violence amongst the Arab residents themselves. Israel initiated a crackdown in 1971 to crush the insurgency.

The Gaza Strip had been home to Palestinian terrorist activities before the war, supervised by Egyptian Army officers. This narrow area of just 20,000 acres was inhabited by some 400,000 souls, half of whom were refugees with 160,000 in UN camps. Following the war, fedayeen scavenged Sinai for weapons and ammunition with much of this then secreted away in the Strip. From the end of 1968 both Fatah, the principal Palestinian resistance organization, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) began infiltrating the city of Gaza and the main refugee camps. They reactivated surviving cells of fighters (fedayeen) and consolidated their forces as an underground insurgent force impeding Israel Defence Forces (IDF, also known as Zahal) occupation activities. Targets were not just soldiers and Israeli civilians beyond the border but also inhabitants of the Strip seen as ‘collaborators’, those too welcoming of Israeli benefits, and those dismissive of the militants. The murders were accompanied by torture and mutilation. From early 1969 they also encouraged a civil disobedience campaign led by children and students, which often degenerated into rock-throwing. The occupiers closed the schools and colleges. Israel established its first settlement in the Strip, Kfar Darom, during 1970 and more were expected to come. Defence Minister Moshe Dayan was talking about a large city, Yamit, envisioned to be built just across the frontier, near Rafah, on the Sinai coast. Gaza Strip violence could work against such plans.

From 167 incidents in 1968 there were 471 in 1969, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. The Strip was growing so lawless and dangerous, posing such a serious challenge to occupation authority, that the IDF withdrew to just controlling primary roads and building an enclosing fence. In 1970 there were 455 security incidents with 15 Israeli fatalities, 39 fedayeen and several civilians killed by the IDF, and some 75 more civilians murdered by the militants.¹ The army hesitated to risk soldiers attempting to intercede in Arab-on-Arab violence. The government authorised investments to improve the standard of living and hopefully reduce motivations for attacks. However, a grenade thrown on 2 January 1971, that killed two Israeli children and wounded their parents, pushed Zahal to act.

Palestinian boys pose for the camera in ‘guarding’ a typical refugee camp. The desolation and spartan conditions played a role in sparking movements to reclaim land and homes subsumed by the Israeli State and residents. For formal military forces, assaulting such a dense urban area was unpalatable and led to shelling as an alternative. (Albert Grandolini collection)

The Gaza Strip is shown with the crossing point into Israel and an Israeli settlement that was established during this period. The entire Strip was eventually encircled by fencing. The navy patrolled the coast to prevent infiltrators from landing and arms from being smuggled in. The military occupation authority tried to maintain order in the face of brutal Arab-on-Arab violence. (Map by George Anderson)

Major General Ariel Sharon, Southern Command commander from January 1970, was tasked with cleansing the Strip. Checkpoints and curfews were imposed. He brought in top-notch infantry units from throughout the army and, aided by intelligence entities, these worked specific areas in detail. Among the forces were border guard elite sayeret (literally ‘scout’) Shaked, composed mostly of Bedouin, and units with personnel of Druze heritage who were notoriously unsympathetic to Arabs. They became familiar with normal activity in order to perceive the abnormal, combing for arms caches and bunkers, and flushing out the 700–800 opposition fighters to be arrested or killed. The IDF widened streets in the refugee camps to permit vehicle patrols by removing buildings or portions thereof. Areas of dense vegetation were bulldozed. A military governor replaced the municipal authorities and some 30 uncooperative persons or their senior male family members were exiled to Jordan. Home demolitions were practiced as well. Ports were carefully regulated to prevent arms smuggling. Sharon also convinced his government to permit the establishment of additional Israeli settlements in the Strip, on land seized by the state, to show a permanent presence and divide the district as a means of enhancing control. Displaced residents were relocated to El Arish or the West Bank in a very unpopular if not illegal programme.

Israeli military police hold a local Arab and question him about weapons found in his bag. The occupation witnessed many such events, along with patrols and checkpoints. When firmer measures were required to quell violence, round-ups of suspects, house searches, deportations, and home demolitions were imposed. (IDF)

Sharon’s methods were criticised as excessively harsh and there were rumours of extra-judicial executions. The urban campaign was seemingly unending and unpopular. Yet, it got results. In the seven months from July 1971 the IDF killed 104 fighters and detained another 742 while two civilians had become collateral deaths. The violence dropped to almost nothing.

2

JORDANIAN CIVIL WAR

The effect of the Palestinian guerrilla activity, drawing IDF retribution, and fedayeen refusal to comply with Jordanian attempts at restraining them proved destabilising to the country. The arrogance of the fedayeen and internal violence between rival factions drew ever-increasing calls from the Jordanian army to move against the militants. However, the groups had broad popular sympathy in the country. While Bedouin military units were unquestionably loyal to the Hashemite monarchy, other elements were dominated by Palestinians at a third of the armed forces. While the officers were expected to be faithful to the state, the dedication of the rank-and-file was dubious. When the Palestinian groups began to openly challenge the government and threaten the reign of the King the situation became untenable and a civil war erupted.

UNRELENTING

From a high in December 1968, with the IDF dropping the highway/railway span from Amman to Aqaba (Volume 1, Chapter 7), the pressure of Israeli reprisal and preventive raids in Jordan remained relentless into 1969–1970. Table 1 shows the extent and nature of major IDF operations inside Jordan during those years. Most were airstrikes, some were commando raids with helicopters or crossing the river via dinghies, but two operations involved vehicles crossing the Jordan River of which one was accompanied by armour. There was a ‘gentleman’s’ agreement that Israel would not strike Aqaba, Jordan’s only port, if Jordan ensured Eilat was not struck. This broke down in April 1969 when the IAF raided Aqaba in response to a fedayeen Katyusha rocket attack on Eilat. Note also the Israel Defence Forces Air Force (IDF/AF, more commonly just IAF) bombing of the Jordanian Army headquarters (likely the local one) on 10 July 1970. Only the Ghor canal damage was national infrastructure, though with harsh consequences. The data also