On 5 June 1967, Operation Focus was fought between Israel under Major General Mordechai Hod and the Arab nations of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq under the overall command of President Gamal Abdel Nasser during the Six-Day War.
Why did it happen & Who was involved?
On 14 May 1948, the State of Israel was created under the auspices of the United Nations in what had been a predominantly Arab State known as Palestine. The following day, Egypt, Jordan and Syria invaded Israel beginning the First Arab-Israeli War. Although Israel emerged victoriously, it found it had no secure borders and was constantly threatened by neighbouring Arab nations committed to her destruction. In May 1967, in response to Syria aiding Palestinian guerrilla raids on their country, Israel warned Damascus that it would not tolerate Syrian-sponsored terrorist attacks without reaction. President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt responded by closing the Strait of Tiran to Israeli ships and ordered UN troops to leave the Sinai border between Egypt and Israel. This convinced the Israeli defence minister Moshe Dayan that the time had come for a pre-emptive strike against Egypt and her allies. Codenamed Operation Focus, the plan involved nearly 200 aircraft conducting airstrikes against enemy airbases in Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq before their combined force of nearly 600 aircraft could respond.
What happened? At 7.45 am on 5 June, Operation Focus commenced with 35 Israeli aircraft attacking Egyptian airbases in the Sinai Peninsula and Suez Canal. Five minutes later, 141 Israeli aircraft flew out over the Mediterranean Sea below radar coverage before turning south towards Egypt. Over the next hour, the Israeli jets bombed and strafed dozens of parked Egyptian aircraft before returning to Israel to rearm and refuel. Half-an-hour later, the Israelis flew back to Egypt to target radar and anti-aircraft sites, but some Egyptian fighters managed to get airborne and engage the Israelis in dogfights above their bases. At roughly 11.55 am, both Jordan and Syria retaliated against Israel by attacking Jerusalem and its airbases in northern Israel respectively, forcing the Israeli Air Force to turn east and attack Jordanian and Syrian airbases. While most of Jordan’s aircraft was destroyed on the ground or in combat, Israeli jets engaged Syrian fighters over the skies of Israel. At 2.15 pm, the Israelis intercepted a message from Egypt to Iraq requesting the aid of its air force and subsequently made their last bombing run against Iraq’s H-3 base. Operation Focus, having achieved all its objectives, ended at 4.00 pm.
What changed as a result? Operation Focus was a decisive victory for the Israeli Air Force, who managed to destroy 452 Arab aircraft for the loss of only 19 of its own. Throughout the remainder of the Six-Day War, Israel would enjoy unrivalled air superiority over its enemies, allowing its armies to occupy the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and West Bank by 10 June. In addition, 600,000 Palestinian refugees came under Israeli control, but rather than using these refugees as a bargaining chip for peace, Israel encouraged Jews from Africa and Russia to settle on former Palestinian land. This humiliated the Arab States that had fought in the Six-Day War and laid the ground for future conflict in the Middle East. As Geoffrey Regan observes, “The problems of the Middle East, rather than being solved by Israel’s pre-emptive strike, were made many times worse, creating a legacy of bitterness that has continued to ferment for a whole generation with little hope of a solution” (Regan, 2002, p.213).
Bibliography
Aloni, Shlomo. Six-Day War 1967: Operation Focus and the 12 hours that changed the Middle East. Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 2019.
Regan, Geoffrey. Battles That Changed History: Fifty Decisive Battles Spanning Over 2,500 Years of Warfare. London, Andre Deutsch, 2002.
Robinson, Tony. Battles That Changed History. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2018.
Swanston, Malcolm. & Swanston, Alexander. History of Air Warfare. London, Amber Books, 2019.
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