Modern Era · Middle East · War

1967

Six-Day War

June 5, 1967

In a preemptive strike, Israeli jets destroyed the Egyptian air force on the ground. Within six days Israel had taken the Sinai, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, tripling its territory. Arab armies fled or died in the sand. The geography of the modern Middle East was set, and the occupation began.