Six Day War (jun 5, 1967 – jun 10, 1967)

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The war began after Nasser banned Israeli ships from trading through the Strait of Tiran.

Israel made a surprise 'pre-emptive strike' (claiming it was because of Arab threats) against Egypt in the morning of the 5th June. They conducted air strikes against Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air bases. 95% of the Arab aircraft were destroyed; Egypt and Jordan's forces were totally wiped out. They kept most of their success secret so that the international community wouldn't intervene too quickly.

Israel's complete air supremacy meant that they could now provide close air support to troops attacking on the ground. Israel took the Gaza Strip, then East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Sinai. Egypt accepted a cease-fire on 8th June. On 9th June, Israel took the Golan Heights after six days of fighting the Syrians. Syria accepted a ceasefire on 10th June.

Therefore, in the Six Day War, Israel took:
- the Gaza Strip
- the West Bank
- the Sinai
- the Golan Heights

Israel was now 350% bigger.

This meant that:
- Egypt lost the Sinai's oil supplies
- the Palestinian territories were now under Israeli military occupation
- many Palestinians were evicted from East Jerusalem
- 300,000 Palestinian refugees fled to other Arab countries, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
- Fatah gained lots of new recruits
- 115,000 Syrians fled the Golan Heights
- Israel could now fire on Damascus
- Israel could now control water from the dams on the Golan Heights
- Nasser was humiliated
- the Arab states now had to rely on the USSR and wealthier Arab states

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