Events leading up to the Six Day War

1956-1968 1956: Immediately following the Sinai War, Arab unrest spreads across the region, while anti-Israeli activity begins to develop across the Syrian and Jordanian borders. The Syrians regularly shell Israel from the Golan Heights, attacking fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee, shelling villages and agricultural workers in a demilitarized zone in the Hulah valley. 1957: Israel withdraws from Sinai and Gaza in March. A United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) moves in. 1960: Egypt notifies the United Nations forces in the Gaza Strip that a war with Israel is possible. They amass forces in Sinai, but retreat two months later without any action taken. The Egyptian army and greater Arab world claim they have deterred a massive Israeli attack on Syria. 1964: The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is officially formed and recognized at the Arab Summit Conference. The PLO immediately begins launching terrorist raids against Israel. 1966: Syria regularly sends saboteurs via Jordan and Lebanon to carry out terrorist raids, thus provoking Israeli attacks on the villages around Hebron where many of the terrorists were based. 1966: On November 11, three Israeli soldiers are killed by a mine planted by the PLO's Fatah organization. On November 13, before a letter sent by King Hussein of Jordan condemning Fatah's terrorist act on the 11th, reached the Israeli government, Israel launched a retaliatory raid, killing 15 Jordanian soldiers. 1967: 22 February: Syria announces it is time to move from "…defensive positions to offensive positions…"  7 April: Syria steps up its shelling, increasing attacks on border villages, leading to an air fight between the Syrians and the Israeli Air Force (IAF). 12-13 May: A Russian report alleges that Israel is amassing troops along the Syrian border. Israel denies the build-up. U.N. Secretary General U Thant reports that UNTSO observers on the Syrian border "... have verified the absence of troop concentrations and absence of noteworthy military movements on both sides of the [Syrian] line."   According to the Soviet media, the Russian accusations were part of a coordinated "Zionist-imperialist" plot to undermine the revolutionary regimes in the Middle East. Today it is understood that this Soviet report, used to deliberately incite Egypt and Syria to form an active military alliance against Israel, was in fact, false. 14-15 May: Syria requests Egypt act to deter an Israeli attack, invoking a mutual defense treaty. Egyptian Field Marshal, Abd al-Hakim Amer orders the Egyptian Army in Sinai "To raise the level of preparedness to a full alert for war, beginning 14.30, 14 May 1967.   At the same time Israel clarifies that it does not have aggressive intentions against Egypt or any other Arab state.  18-19 May: Egypt requests that U.N. forces withdraw. U.N. Secretary General, U Thant orders a complete withdrawal of U.N. forces without consulting the U.N. General Assembly or Security Council 20 May: Egypt dispatches at least 100,000 troops to Israel's southwestern border, leading to a sweep in Arab nationalism against Israel 22 May: Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and any international assistance promised to Israel in case of such a violation in the region never materializes. Arab troops continued to gather on Israel's borders, reaching estimated levels of 450,000 or more. 26-27 May: Israel learns of an Egyptian and Syrian plan to launch a war of annihilation against Israel within the next 48 hours. The initial Egyptian military offensive, dubbed "The Dawn," was essentially a march straight to Jordan, cutting Israel in half and planned by Egyptian general, Abdul Hakim Amer. Only minutes before the attack was intended to begin, pressure by the United States and the Soviets, convinced President Nasser to call it off.  30 May: Egypt, Syria and Jordan sign a mutual defense pack, solidifying their alliance and putting Jordan's military under Egyptian command.