Egypt Loses the Sinai in the Six Day War
Nasser's blockade and troop buildup trigger a war that costs Egypt the entire Sinai Peninsula in less than a week
Quick facts
- War dates
- 5-10 June 1967
- Egyptian air force losses
- Roughly 90 percent destroyed on the ground
- Territory lost
- Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip
- Sinai returned to Egypt
- 1982, under the 1979 peace treaty
What happened
In May 1967, amid rising tensions with Israel, Nasser sent large numbers of Egyptian troops into the Sinai Peninsula, demanded the withdrawal of the United Nations peacekeeping force that had guarded the Israeli border for over a decade, and on 22 May banned Israeli shipping from the Straits of Tiran, the sea passage connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Israel launched a surprise attack on 5 June 1967, striking eighteen Egyptian airfields and destroying roughly ninety percent of the Egyptian air force while it sat on the ground, then followed with a ground offensive that seized the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt within days. By the time the fighting ended on 10 June, Israel had also taken the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights from Jordan and Syria.
Why it matters
The defeat was the most significant military catastrophe of Nasser's presidency, and although he briefly resigned in disgrace before being restored to office by public demonstrations of support, his leadership and his brand of secular pan-Arab nationalism never fully recovered. Israel held the Sinai until returning it to Egypt as part of the 1979 peace treaty, and the war reshaped the territorial map of the Middle East for the following half-century.
How we know
Nasser's troop movements, the closure of the Straits of Tiran, and the outcome of the war are documented in the US State Department's official historical milestone on the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the military details of Israel's air and ground campaign are confirmed by History.
Sources
- US Department of State, Office of the Historian. The 1967 Arab-Israeli War · Reputable sourcehistory.state.gov · The domain "history.state.gov" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- History (A&E Television Networks). Six-Day War · Reputable sourcehistory.com · The domain "history.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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