What happened
On 6 October 1973, Egypt under Sadat and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack on Israeli-held territory. In the war’s opening hours the Egyptian army crossed the Suez Canal, overwhelming the Bar-Lev Line — sand fortifications breached with high-pressure water cannons, a noted feat of military engineering — and establishing bridgeheads in Sinai. After the early Arab successes, Israeli counteroffensives reversed the tide: Israeli forces crossed to the west bank of the canal and encircled Egypt’s Third Army. The superpowers resupplied their sides by airlift and came briefly to the edge of confrontation before a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting on 25 October.
Background
Sinai had been under Israeli control since the defeat of 1967. The attack was timed for Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day, which that year fell during Ramadan.
Consequences
Militarily the end position was mixed, but politically the war transformed Egypt’s position: the canal crossing restored confidence after 1967 and made a negotiated settlement possible. Disengagement agreements followed in 1974 and 1975, then Sadat’s peace initiative, the Camp David Accords of 1978, and the 1979 treaty that returned Sinai. In Egypt, 6 October is Armed Forces Day, and it was at the war’s anniversary parade that Sadat was assassinated in 1981.