1967 SIX DAY WAR JERUSALEM IS ISRAELS

March 8, 1963 The radical Baathist Party takes power in a coup in Syria.

May 29, 1964 The Palestine Liberation Organization is founded in Jerusalem.

May 15, 1967 Nasser deploys Egyptian troops in Sinai.

May 19, 1967 Nasser requests withdrawal of U.N. Emergency Force from Sinai.

May 22, 1967 Nasser closes Straits of Tiran at northern end of Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping.

June 5-10, 1967 Israel attacks Egypt; defeats Arab armies in Six Day War; occupies West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula.

Nov. 22, 1967 U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 242, establishing the principle of exchanging territories occupied in the Six Day War for peace with Israel.

Six-Day War

As Egypt, Syria and Jordan mobilized their forces in spring 1967 for an evident impending attack, Israel launched a preemptive strike. Starting on June 5, the Israeli air force destroyed Egypt's planes on the ground; then Israeli tank columns and infantry overran the Golan Heights, the West Bank of the Jordan River, including the Old City of Jerusalem, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.

The war was over by June 10, ended by a U.N.-arranged cease-fire.Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in October 1973 (during Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day). Israel suffered heavy casualties but managed to repulse the attacks. It even pushed Egyptian forces back across the Suez Canal and occupied its west bank before the belligerents agreed to another cease-fire arranged by the United Nations.

In a series of 1974 agreements Israel withdrew its forces back across the canal into Sinai and came to cease-fire terms with Syria. In the Camp David Accords of March 1979, Egypt and Israel finally ended the war between them. Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, and Egypt recognized Israel's right to exist.

Six-Day War 1967

In May 1967, Egypt closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping and began mobilizing its forces to attack Israel. Syria and Jordan also mobilized against Israel. In response, Israel launched a strike. Starting June 5, the Israeli air force destroyed Egypt's planes on the ground. Enabled by air superiority throughout the region, Israeli tank columns and infantry captured the Sinai Peninsula in three days.

Elsewhere, the Israelis overran the Golan Heights, the West Bank of the Jordan River, including the Old City of Jerusalem (which Israel later annexed), and Gaza. The war was over by June 10, ended by a U.N.-arranged cease-fire. The United States called on the Israelis to withdraw from occupied territories but did not specify how much land it should give up.