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115-398: Musaid was the site of heavy fighting during the brief Libyan–Egyptian War of 1977. This war, the break-off of Libyan-Egyptian diplomatic relations, and the resultant trade embargo with Egypt, had a very negative impact on Musaid. For example, Musaid's population shrank from 4,330 in 1973 to 3,200 in 1984 (-26.1%), while overall Libya's population rose in the same period by 60.30%. Nearby is

230-553: A normalization agreement . However, Syria pressured President Amine Gemayel into nullifying the truce in March 1984. By 1985, Israeli forces withdrew to a 15 km wide southern strip of Lebanon, following which the conflict continued on a lower scale, with relatively low casualties on both sides. In 1993 and 1996, Israel launched major operations against the Shiite militia of Hezbollah , which had become an emergent threat. In May 2000,

345-647: A peace agreement , which stipulated mutual cooperation, an end of hostilities, the fixing of the Israel-Jordan border, and a resolution of other issues. The conflict between them had cost roughly 18.3 billion dollars. Its signing is also closely linked with the efforts to create peace between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It

460-710: A peace treaty in March 1979. Under its terms, the Sinai Peninsula returned to Egyptian hands, and the Gaza Strip remained under Israeli control, to be included in a future Palestinian state . The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the Straits of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways. In October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed

575-401: A ceasefire. Sporadic fighting occurred over the next few days as Egyptian troops withdrew across the border. Relations between the two countries remained tense, and, though a formal agreement was never reached, both upheld a truce and gradually withdrew their forces from the border. Gaddafi softened his rhetoric against Egypt in the following years but actively rallied other Arab states to isolate

690-466: A co-ordinated attack on Israel, initiating the Yom Kippur War . Though an Israeli counter-attack eliminated Egyptian territorial gains in the early stages of the war, Sadat agreed to open negotiations with Israel, seeking the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for a guarantee to not engage in further attacks on the country. Gaddafi was angered by the war's limited objectives and

805-606: A complicated system of roadblocks and checkpoints around major Palestinian areas to deter violence and protect Israeli settlements. However, since 2008, the IDF has slowly transferred authority to Palestinian security forces. Israel's then prime minister Ariel Sharon began a policy of disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2003. This policy was fully implemented in August 2005. Sharon's announcement to disengage from Gaza came as

920-557: A drawn-out firefight with the Egyptians while conducting a raid. The Egyptian government reported that nine of its soldiers were killed. Gaddafi organised a group of civilians to march from Libya to Cairo , the Egyptian capital, to protest Sadat's policy towards Israel in the hopes that they would be well received by the population. After Egyptian border guards halted the demonstration at the frontier, Gaddafi ordered his forces to raid

1035-778: A full-scale Palestinian civil war in 1947 . Taking the side of the Palestinians, especially following the Israeli Declaration of Independence , the neighbouring Arab countries invaded the by-then former Mandate territory in May 1948, commencing the First Arab–Israeli War . Large-scale hostilities mostly ended with ceasefire agreements after the 1973 Yom Kippur War . Peace agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, resulting in Israeli withdrawal from

1150-457: A lack of skilled personnel to maintain their equipment. Libyan forces were largely at a disadvantage. The entire Libyan Army consisted of only 32,000 troops and, of these, only about 5,000 were assembled in three brigade -sized formations to combat the Egyptians along the border. Libya also had a dearth of skilled personnel; in 1977, the military only had about 200–300 trained tank crews and at most 150 qualified pilots. Maintenance of equipment

1265-558: A peace settlement with Israel in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Soon thereafter Libya began sponsoring dissidents and assassination plots to undermine Sadat, and Egypt responded in kind to weaken Gaddafi. In early 1976 Gaddafi dispatched troops to the Egyptian frontier where they began clashing with border guards. Sadat responded by moving many troops to the area, while the Egyptian General Staff drew up plans for an invasion to depose Gaddafi. Clashes along

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1380-730: A people. Moreover, Jewish policies of purchasing land and prohibiting the employment of Arabs in Jewish-owned industries and farms greatly angered the Palestinian Arab communities. Demonstrations were held as early as 1920, protesting what the Arabs felt were unfair preferences for the Jewish immigrants set forth by the British mandate that governed Palestine at the time. This resentment led to outbreaks of violence later that year, as

1495-489: A personal dislike to Gaddafi, finding him an annoying and unfit leader. One of Gaddafi's major foreign policy goals, shared by many in the Arab world, was the elimination of Israel . He hoped that the combined power of Libya's finances, backed by a profitable oil-based economy, and Egypt's large population and military strength, could be used to destroy Israel. In October 1973 Egypt and Syria, without consulting Libya, launched

1610-557: A promise from Arab leaders that they would be able to return when the war had been won, and also in part due to attacks on Palestinian villages and towns by Israeli forces and Jewish militant groups. During the war, official Israeli documents subsequently uncovered by Benny Morris and Benjamin Kedar have revealed that Israel conducted a biological warfare campaign codenamed "Cast Thy Bread" to covertly poison Palestinian wells to prevent villagers from returning. Many Palestinians fled from

1725-450: A surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur , the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The Israeli military were caught off guard and unprepared, and took about three days to fully mobilize. This led other Arab states to send troops to reinforce the Egyptians and Syrians. In addition, these Arab countries agreed to enforce an oil embargo on industrial nations including the U.S., Japan and Western European Countries. These OPEC countries increased

1840-653: A time the situation remained tense as it appeared Egypt would invade Libya, but after several weeks of no major action by the Egyptians it appeared to the Libyans that there would be no attack. Most observers at the time argued that Sadat did not order an invasion because it would stress Egypt's faltering economy and distance it from the Soviet Union and the Arab states in the Persian Gulf , which were already displeased with his policy towards Israel and overtures to

1955-616: A tremendous shock to his critics both on the left and on the right. A year previously, he had commented that the fate of the most far-flung settlements in Gaza, Netzararem and Kfar Darom, was regarded in the same light as that of Tel Aviv. The formal announcements to evacuate seventeen Gaza settlements and another four in the West Bank in February 2004 represented the first reversal for the settler movement since 1968, dividing Sharon's party. It

2070-482: Is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events". It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the autonomy of Palestinian organisations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The violence resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the vast majority Palestinians. Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 with

2185-765: The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine . In response to Arab pressure, the British Mandate authorities greatly reduced the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine (see White Paper of 1939 and the SS ; Exodus ). These restrictions remained in place until the end of the mandate, a period which coincided with the Nazi Holocaust and the flight of Jewish refugees from Europe. As a consequence, most Jewish entrants to Mandatory Palestine were considered illegal (see Aliyah Bet ), causing further tensions in

2300-641: The 1982 Lebanon War when Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War to oust the Palestinian Liberation Organization from Lebanon . With the decline of the 1987–1993 First Intifada , the interim Oslo Accords led to the creation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, within the context of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process . The same year, Israel and Jordan reached a peace accord. In 2002,

2415-780: The Egyptian Air Force in a surprise attack, then turned east to destroy the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces. This strike was the crucial element in Israel's victory in the Six-Day War . At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem ), Shebaa farms , and the Golan Heights. The results of the war affect the geopolitics of

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2530-488: The Four Day War ( Arabic : حرب الأربعة أيام , romanized :  ḥarb al-ārbaʿ ʾayyām ), was a short border war fought between Libya and Egypt that lasted from 21 to 24 July 1977. The conflict stemmed from a deterioration in relations that had occurred between the two states after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had rebuffed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi 's entreaties to unify their countries and had pursued

2645-647: The Free Lebanon Army forced the PLO to retreat north of the Litani river. In 1981 another conflict between Israel and the PLO broke out, which ended with a ceasefire agreement that did not solve the core of the conflict. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in alliance with Christian factions of the Lebanese government. Within two months the PLO agreed to withdraw thence. In March 1983, Israel and Lebanon signed

2760-627: The Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase at Al Adm , which served as the primary interceptor airbase in eastern Libya. The Libyans were caught off guard, and many of their Mirages and MiGs were stationary and exposed at the base. Western sources reported that the air raid had little effect. According to Pollack, the Egyptian airstrikes caused little damage to aircraft, though they struck a few radars. The Egyptians claimed that they had damaged seven planes. Military historians Tom Cooper and Albert Grandolini wrote that Libyan pilots reported

2875-528: The Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. The United States and the United Nations soon pressured it into a ceasefire. Israel agreed to withdraw from Egyptian territory. Egypt agreed to freedom of navigation in the region and the demilitarization of the Sinai. The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created and deployed to oversee the demilitarization. The UNEF was only deployed on the Egyptian side of

2990-537: The Gulf War in 1991, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel, in the hopes of uniting the Arab world against the coalition which sought to liberate Kuwait . At the behest of the United States, Israel did not respond to this attack in order to prevent a greater outbreak of war. In 1970, following an extended civil war , King Hussein expelled the Palestine Liberation Organization from Jordan. September 1970

3105-628: The Gulf of Aqaba , in contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888 . Many argued that this was also a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements . On 26 July 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company , and closed the canal to Israeli shipping. Israel responded on 29 October 1956, by invading the Sinai Peninsula with British and French military support. During the Suez Crisis , Israel captured

3220-538: The Jewish Legion ). The British government issued the Balfour Declaration , which stated that the government viewed favorably "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" but "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine". The Declaration was issued as a result of the belief of key members of

3335-871: The Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum and approved a proclamation that declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel , to be known as the State of Israel . The declaration was made by David Ben-Gurion , the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization . There was no mention of the borders of the new state other than that it was in Eretz Israel. An official cablegram from

3450-791: The Munich Olympics Massacre in 1972, and the Entebbe Hostage Taking in 1976, with over 100 Jewish hostages of different nationalities kidnapped and held in Uganda. In December 1987, the First Intifada began. The First Intifada was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the Palestinian territories . The rebellion began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza and

3565-537: The Palestinian refugee problem based on UN Resolution 194 . In the 1990s and early 2000s, a ceasefire had been largely maintained between Israel and Syria , while limited warfare continued in Lebanon against Iranian proxy militias. Despite the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan , the interim peace accords with the Palestinian Authority and the generally existing ceasefire, until the mid-2010s

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3680-476: The Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, returning the region to the way it was in 1956 when Israel was blockaded. On 30 May 1967, Jordan signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. Egypt mobilized Sinai units, crossing UN lines (after having expelled the UN border monitors) and mobilized and massed on Israel's southern border. On 5 June, Israel launched an attack on Egypt. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed most of

3795-531: The United States . Diplomatic sources have posited that Sadat was determined to occupy the Libyan capital, Tripoli , and depose Gaddafi. Egyptian sources also reported that Sadat wished to demonstrate to the Soviet Union that Egypt was stronger than Libya, and that its government should not abandon good relations with Egypt in favour of Libya. American intelligence analyst Kenneth M. Pollack concluded that

3910-462: The border intensified in July 1977. On 21 July a Libyan tank battalion raided the town of Sallum . The Egyptian forces ambushed it and subsequently launched a large counter-attack, conducting airstrikes against Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase and sending a mechanised force 24 kilometres (15 mi) into Libyan territory before withdrawing. Over the next two days, heavy artillery fire was exchanged across

4025-616: The 9th Tank Battalion before it retreated. The Libyan Army requested air support, and a few Mirages of the LARAF's No. 1002 Squadron bombed Sallum and nearby settlements, causing minimal damage. The Egyptians claimed to have shot down two of them with anti-aircraft fire , reportedly destroying one with SA-7 man-portable air-defence systems . Several hours later the Egyptians initiated a large counter-offensive. Four Egyptian Mirages and eight Su-7s, led by Colonel Adil Nassr and covered by four MiG-21 fighters, flew out of Marsa Matruh and raided

4140-596: The Arab League and Israel had remained at odds with each other over many issues. Among Arab belligerents in the conflict, Iraq and Syria are the only states who have reached no formal peace accord or treaty with Israel, with both supporting Iran. The Syrian civil war reshuffled the situation near Israel's northern border, putting the ruling Syrian government, Hezbollah and the Syrian opposition at odds with each other and complicating their relations with Israel upon

4255-601: The Arab League offered recognition of Israel by Arab countries as part of the resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Arab Peace Initiative . The initiative, which has been reconfirmed since, calls for normalizing relations between the Arab League and Israel, in exchange for a full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories (including East Jerusalem) and a "just settlement" of

4370-724: The Arab World in December 1947, and Jewish communities were hit particularly hard in Aleppo and British-controlled Aden , with hundreds of dead and injured. In Libya , Jews were deprived of citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. Egypt expelled most of its foreign community, including Jews, after the Suez War in 1956, while Algeria denied its French citizens, including Jews, of citizenship upon its independence in 1962. Over

4485-698: The Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition. By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River . The remainder of the Mandate consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Before and during this conflict, 713,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their original lands to become Palestinian refugees , in part due to

4600-557: The Arab–Israeli conflict have been attributed to the support by Arab League member countries for the Palestinians , a fellow League member, in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict ; this in turn has been attributed to the simultaneous rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism towards the end of the 19th century, though the two national movements had not clashed until the 1920s. Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict arose from

4715-633: The Egyptian Air Defence Command's communications, Egyptian MiG-21s conducted near-constant patrols to mitigate the effectiveness of the LARAF. Egypt claimed that it destroyed four Mirages. On 24 July Libya mobilised its reserves. Meanwhile, the Egyptians initiated a large assault on Nasser Airbase, where the Libyans had still not moved their aircraft into cover. The Egyptian jets attacked in tandem with commandos in helicopters. They managed to demolish several early-warning radar systems, damage some surface-to-air missile sites, crater

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4830-401: The Egyptian town of Sallum . By early July 1977, the two Egyptian Army divisions deployed to the border had been raised to full strength and were dug in. They were bolstered by several commando battalions and support units, while a third division stationed near Cairo and other commandos were ready to relocate on short notice. A total of over 40,000 troops were deployed to the border during

4945-414: The Egyptians had destroyed schools and hospitals, caused significant damage to five towns, and inflicted "a great loss of life among innocent civilians". The Security Council declined to discuss the matter. The Libyan government also accused the United States of sharing combat intelligence with Egypt. On 24 August Egypt and Libya exchanged prisoners . Large concentrations of troops remained stationed along

5060-426: The General Assembly on 3 September 1947. The Report contained a majority and a minority plan. The majority proposed a Plan of Partition with Economic Union . The minority proposed The Independent State of Palestine . With only slight modifications, the Plan of Partition with Economic Union was the one the adoption and implementation of which was recommended in resolution 181(II) of 29 November 1947. The Resolution

5175-472: The Israeli–Palestinian conflict) on American soil. In 1969, Egypt initiated the War of Attrition , with the goal of exhausting Israel into surrendering the Sinai Peninsula. The war ended following Gamal Abdel Nasser 's death in 1970. Once Sadat took over, he tried to forge positive relations with the US, hoping that they would put pressure on Israel to return the land, by expelling 15,000 Russian advisors from Egypt. On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt staged

5290-436: The Jordan, leading to growing conflict between Israel and Syria. The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was first established in 1964, under a charter including a commitment to "[t]he liberation of Palestine [which] will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence..." (PLO Charter, Article 22, 1968). On 19 May 1967, Egypt expelled UNEF observers, and deployed 100,000 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. It again closed

5405-556: The LARAF on the morning of 22 July. The Egyptians claimed to have shot down two fighter jets, though the Libyans attributed these losses to accidents, claiming one of their aircraft crashed while on a reconnaissance mission and that another was destroyed by their own anti-aircraft fire. During this time the Egyptian Air Force raided several Libyan towns and military installations, including the Kufra Airbase. The Egyptians also dispatched three squadrons of MiGs and Su-20s to attack Nasser Airbase. The Libyan aircraft were still left exposed at

5520-430: The London Conference and before the United Nations mainly, the only fair and just solution to the problem of Palestine is the creation of United State of Palestine based upon the democratic principles ... That day, the armies of Egypt , Lebanon, Syria , Jordan and Iraq invaded what had just ceased to be the British Mandate, marking the beginning of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . The nascent Israeli Defense Force repulsed

5635-617: The PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, while the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced terrorism, violence and its desire for the destruction of Israel . The Oslo II agreement was signed in 1995 and detailed the division of the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C . Area A was land under full Palestinian civilian control, and Palestinians were also responsible for internal security. The Oslo agreements remain important documents in Israeli–Palestinian relations. The Al-Aqsa Intifada forced Israel to rethink its relationship and policies towards

5750-423: The Palestinians. Following a series of suicide bombings and attacks, the Israeli army launched Operation Defensive Shield in March 2002. It was the largest military operation conducted by Israel since the Six-Day War. As violence between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants intensified, Israel expanded its security apparatus around the West Bank by re-taking many parts of land in Area A. Israel established

5865-463: The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the UN Secretary-General on 15 May 1948 stated publicly that Arab Governments found "themselves compelled to intervene for the sole purpose of restoring peace and security and establishing law and order in Palestine" (Clause 10(e)). Further in Clause 10(e): The Governments of the Arab States hereby confirm at this stage the view that had been repeatedly declared by them on previous occasions, such as

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5980-484: The Sidi Shahir Ruhih shrine. Musaid's economy depended heavily on trade between Egypt and Libya. After the 1977 war and the follow-on trade embargo with Egypt, this was replaced in part by smuggling, aided by the close tribal ties across the border. In 2008, the Libyan government acted to suppress the smugglers. As of autumn 2010, a large suite of new border facilities is under construction. Libyan%E2%80%93Egyptian War The Egyptian–Libyan War , also known as

6095-411: The Sinai Peninsula and the abolition of the military governance system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip , in favor of Israeli Civil Administration and consequent unilateral annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem . The nature of the conflict has shifted over the years from the large-scale, regional Arab–Israeli conflict to a more local Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which peaked during

6210-418: The United States deemed him to be of key importance in Egypt achieving peace with Israel, its ally, they pressed him to end the fighting. They also feared that the Soviets would intervene in favor of Libya. According to The New Arab , the Four Day War initiated a new era of conflict in the Middle East characterised by fighting between Arab states instead of combat between them and Israel. The war disrupted

6325-474: The United States government had encouraged Sadat to end the conflict. Taking into account Egyptian failures during the Yom Kippur War and the lack of infrastructure in the Western Desert, American officials believed that the Egyptians could not sustain an invasion of Libya and would thus be forced to withdraw in humiliation. The Americans believed this would damage Sadat's reputation, thus undermining his political clout or even possibly leading to his downfall. Since

6440-515: The West Bank. Palestinian actions ranged from civil disobedience to violence. In addition to general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti and barricades, Palestinian demonstrations that included stone-throwing by youths against the Israel Defense Forces brought the Intifada international attention. The Israeli army's heavy handed response to the demonstrations, with live ammunition, beatings and mass arrests, brought international condemnation. The PLO, which until then had never been recognised as

6555-468: The airstrip, and destroy a few armoured vehicles and 6–12 Mirages. Libyan anti-aircraft fire shot down two Su-20s. Commando attacks on Libyan logistics depots at Al Adm and Jaghbub caused significant damage, though a raid by Egyptian jets on Kufra Airbase had little effect. Late in the day, while fighting was still going on in Jaghbub, Sadat declared a ceasefire. Minor actions occurred over the next two days while Egyptian forces withdrew to their country. Over

6670-432: The al-Husseini incited riots broke out in Jerusalem. Winston Churchill 's 1922 White Paper tried to reassure the Arab population, denying that the creation of a Jewish state was the intention of the Balfour Declaration. In 1929 , after a demonstration by Vladimir Jabotinsky 's political group Betar at the Western Wall , riots started in Jerusalem and expanded throughout Mandatory Palestine; Arabs murdered 67 Jews in

6785-424: The allied powers during World War I, leading to the emergence of widespread Arab nationalism. Both Arab nationalism and Zionism had their formulative beginning in Europe. The Zionist Congress was established in Basel in 1897, while the "Arab Club" was established in Paris in 1906. In the late 19th century European and Middle Eastern Jewish communities began to increasingly immigrate to Palestine and purchase land from

6900-423: The areas that are now Israel as a response to massacres of Arab towns by militant Jewish organizations like the Irgun and the Lehi (group) (See Deir Yassin massacre ). The War came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and each of its Arab neighbours. The status of Jewish citizens in Arab states worsened during the 1948 Israeli-Arab war. Anti-Jewish riots erupted throughout

7015-618: The base, but the Egyptians only caused light damage to them, as well as some radars and buildings. Nevertheless, the LARAF ceased to operate from the installation for the rest of the day. Egyptian jets also displayed their air superiority by making low passes over Libyan villages. Though the planes did not open fire, this reportedly instigated the flight of thousands of civilians towards Benghazi. With Nasser Airbase temporarily inoperative, 12 Egyptian commando battalions launched helicopter-borne attacks against Libyan radars, military installations, and Egyptian anti-Sadat insurgent camps located along

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7130-411: The border as well as in the Kufrah Oasis, Al Jaghbub Oasis , Al Adm, and Tobruk . On the morning of 23 July, the LARAF launched attacks against Egypt, its Mirages flying low over the Mediterranean Sea before turning south to assault Marsa Matruh Airbase and other installations. They were accompanied by Mil Mi-8 helicopters, which were equipped for electronic warfare . Though the helicopters disrupted

7245-524: The border in the immediate aftermath of the conflict, but these were eventually withdrawn, as the lack of infrastructure in the area made long-term deployments of significant forces difficult. International media was barred from the combat zone during the war, making independent confirmation about details of the conflict difficult. Observers were surprised by Sadat's sudden declaration of a ceasefire, as Egyptian officials had been telling diplomats that Sadat intended on invading Libya and deposing Gaddafi. Over

7360-401: The border, as Israel refused to allow them on its territory. Israel completed work on a national water carrier in 1964, a huge engineering project designed to transfer Israel's allocation of the Jordan river 's waters towards the south of the country in realization of Ben-Gurion's dream of mass Jewish settlement of the Negev desert. The Arabs responded by trying to divert the headwaters of

7475-415: The border, while Egyptian jets and commandos raided Libyan locales. On 24 July the Egyptians launched a larger raid against Nasser Airbase and struck Libyan supply depots. Under significant pressure from the United States to end the attacks, and attempts from President of Algeria Houari Boumediène and Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat to mediate a solution, Sadat suddenly declared

7590-412: The ceasefire, and accused Sadat of cowardice, undermining the FAR, and betraying the Arab cause. Sadat responded by revealing he had intervened earlier that year to prevent Libya from sinking a civilian passenger ship carrying Jewish tourists in the Mediterranean Sea . Thereafter Egyptian–Libyan relations were marked by frequent accusations against each country's leaders, and further discussions regarding

7705-585: The chagrin of Libya and other Arab countries. Israeli officials feared that the Libyans would initiate a second war to oust Sadat, thus dooming the prospects of peace with Egypt. Relations between Libya and Egypt declined further after Sadat travelled to Jerusalem in November 1977. Nevertheless, Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement in 1978, returning the Sinai Peninsula to Egyptian control. Egypt promptly moved forces to its western border, and Libya responded by drawing its forces back to avoid another confrontation. Gaddafi softened his rhetoric against Egypt in

7820-422: The city of Hebron , in what became known as the Hebron massacre . During the week of the 1929 riots, at least 116 Arabs and 133 Jews were killed and 339 wounded. By 1931, 17 percent of the population of Mandatory Palestine were Jews, an increase of six percent since 1922. Jewish immigration peaked soon after the Nazis came to power in Germany, causing the Jewish population in British Palestine to double. In

7935-427: The clash, feeling that it was advantageous to Israel. To Gaddafi, the war proved that Sadat was serious about countering Libyan influence in Egypt. Realising that he could not challenge Egypt's armed forces, the Libyan leader decreased his military pressure on the country. Upset with the LARAF's performance during the conflict, he dismissed al-Firjani and replaced him with an officer who immediately set about modernising

8050-466: The conflicting claims by these movements to the land that formed the British Mandatory Palestine , which was regarded by the Jewish people as their ancestral homeland , while at the same time it was regarded by the Pan-Arab movement as historically and currently belonging to the Palestinians, and in the Pan-Islamic context, as Muslim lands . The sectarian conflict within the British Mandate territory between Palestinian Jews and Arabs escalated into

8165-424: The control of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years, until its partitioning in the aftermath of the Great Arab Revolt during World War I . During the closing years of their empire, the Ottomans began to espouse their Turkish ethnic identity, asserting the primacy of Turks within the empire, leading to discrimination against the Arabs. The promise of liberation from the Ottomans led many Jews and Arabs to support

8280-461: The country. In the 1970s Libya, led by Muammar Gaddafi , began a determined foreign policy of promoting Arab unity . He consulted Egyptian and Syrian leaders on taking steps towards that goal. When Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser , a leading proponent of Arab nationalism, died in September 1970, his successor, Anwar Sadat , took his place in the discussions. The negotiations culminated in

8395-623: The course of the border war the Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat flew between Tripoli and Cairo in an attempt to mediate its resolution. Two Libyan military officers accompanied Arafat to Egypt to attempt to reach a solution. Shortly before the end of fighting the President of Algeria , Houari Boumediène , also intervened to mediate, and the government of Kuwait announced it would assist. However, several diplomatic sources reported that

8510-442: The course of the war the Libyans lost 30 tanks, 40 armoured personnel carriers, as well as 400 casualties. In addition to this, 12 Libyan soldiers were captured. Pollack stated that the LARAF lost 10–20 Mirages. Cooper and Grandolini wrote that the force lost six Mirages and as many as 20 Soko G-2 Galebs and Jastrebs . Most Libyan military installations east of Tobruk were damaged to varying extents. The Egyptians suffered at most

8625-426: The course of twenty years, some 850,000 Jews from Arab countries immigrated to Israel and other countries. As a result of Israel's victory in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , any Arabs caught on the wrong side of the ceasefire line were unable to return to their homes in what became Israel. Likewise, any Jews on the West Bank or in Gaza were exiled from their property and homes to Israel. Today's Palestinian refugees are

8740-605: The creation of the Federation of Arab Republics (FAR) in 1972, consisting of Libya, Egypt, and Syria. Though the FAR was instituted with broad goals for the consolidation of each country's militaries, laws, and foreign policies, only symbolic gestures of unity were ever adopted, such as the establishment of a common national flag. In the following months Gaddafi aggressively campaigned for immediate unity with Egypt, while Sadat's interest in unification steadily declined. Sadat also took

8855-557: The cross-border trade and smuggling activities of the Bedouins , a nomadic people who resided in both countries. Thousands of Egyptians residing in Libya and employed in the civil service, oil industry, agriculture, commerce, and education subsequently left the country, upsetting the economy and hampering public services. Many mines laid in Libya during the war remained there as late as 2006. Many observers in Arab states were concerned by

8970-510: The descendants of those who left, the responsibility for their exodus being a matter of dispute between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. Historian Benny Morris has claimed that the "decisive cause" for the abandonment by Palestinian Arabs of their settlements was predominantly related to, or caused by, actions of the Jewish forces (citing actual physical expulsions, military assaults on settlements, fear of being caught up in fighting,

9085-527: The emerging warfare with Iran. The conflict, since 2023 a war , between Israel and Hamas -ruled Gaza is also attributed to the Iran–Israel proxy conflict . By 2017, Israel and several Arab Sunni states led by Saudi Arabia formed a semi-official coalition to confront Iran. This move and the Israeli normalization with Gulf states was marked by some as the fading of the Arab–Israeli conflict. The roots of

9200-401: The expulsion of the PLO and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon. The PLO resettled in Lebanon, where it began to extend a de facto autonomous rule and from which it staged raids into Israel. PLO was one of the major factors for sectarian destabilization of Lebanon and the eruption of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. In 1978, Israel launched Operation Litani , in which it together with

9315-408: The fall of nearby settlements, and propaganda inciting flight), while abandonment due to orders by the Arab leadership was decisive in only six out of the 392 depopulated Arab settlements analysed by him. Over 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1952, with approximately 285,000 of them from Arab countries. In 1956, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded

9430-414: The following years, but actively rallied other Arab states to isolate the country and deprecate the policies of Sadat and his successor, Hosni Mubarak . Arab%E2%80%93Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is the phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between various Arab countries and Israel , which escalated during the 20th century. The roots of

9545-480: The force. Despite Libya's substantial human and materiel losses during the war, the appearance that Libya's smaller army had held back an Egyptian offensive boosted the military's morale and Gaddafi's domestic political standing. To Sadat and his military commanders, the conflict revealed that Libya had amassed a substantial arsenal of materiel which had the potential to disrupt regional balances of power. Meanwhile, Sadat continued to pursue negotiations with Israel to

9660-463: The government, including Prime Minister David Lloyd George , that Jewish support was essential to winning the war; however, the declaration caused great disquiet in the Arab world. After the war, the area came under British rule as the British Mandate of Palestine . The area mandated to the British in 1923 included what is today Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip . Transjordan eventually

9775-454: The incursion. After advancing 24 kilometres (15 mi) into Libya, the Egyptians withdrew over the border. The Libyans lost a total of 60 tanks and armoured personnel carriers in the fighting. Over the next two days the Libyans and the Egyptians exchanged heavy artillery fire over the border to minimal effect. Egyptian forces rallied in Sallum, and were subject to 16 low-level raids from

9890-586: The leaders of the Palestinian people by Israel, was invited to peace negotiations the following year, after it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism. In mid-1993, Israeli and Palestinian representatives engaged in peace talks in Oslo, Norway. As a result, in September 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords , known as the Declaration of Principles or Oslo I. In side letters , Israel recognized

10005-490: The local Ottoman landlords. The population of the late 19th century in Palestine reached 600,000 – mostly Muslim Arabs, but also significant minorities of Jews, Christians, Druze and some Samaritans and Baháʼís . At that time, Jerusalem did not extend beyond the walled area and had a population of only a few tens of thousands. Collective farms, known as kibbutzim , were established, as was the first entirely Jewish city in modern times, Tel Aviv . During 1915–16, as World War I

10120-531: The loss of four aircraft and 100 casualties, as well as a number of soldiers captured. According to Arab diplomats, three Soviet military technicians who were assisting the Libyans in operating their radars were incidentally killed in the airstrikes, though they were not participating in the conflict. While the fighting was going on, an Egyptian military spokesperson told the press that "our forces were careful not to harm Libyan civilians." According to journalist Mayada El Gohary, no Libyan civilians were killed during

10235-531: The mid-1930s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam arrived from Syria and established the Black Hand , an anti-Zionist and anti-British militant organization. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants, and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men. The cells were equipped with bombs and firearms, which they used to kill Jewish settlers in the area, as well as engaging in a campaign of vandalism of Jewish settler plantations. By 1936, escalating tensions led to

10350-430: The military lacked professionalism. Nevertheless, Libyan morale was high, as they believed they were facing an enemy that had betrayed the Arab world by seeking peace with Israel. On 21 July 1977 the Libyan 9th Tank Battalion carried out a raid on Sallum. The unit was ambushed in the town and subjected to a well-planned counter-attack by at least one Egyptian mechanised division, which inflicted 50 percent casualties on

10465-576: The modern Arab–Israeli conflict lie in the tensions between Zionism and Palestinian nationalism ; the latter having risen in response to Zionism towards the end of the 19th century. Territory regarded by the Jewish people as their historical homeland is also considered by the Pan-Arab movement as historically and presently belonging to the Arab Palestinians . Palestine had been under

10580-556: The newly elected government of Ehud Barak authorized a withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, fulfilling an election promise to do so well ahead of a declared deadline. The hasty withdrawal lead to the immediate collapse of the South Lebanon Army , and many members either got arrested or fled to Israel. The 1970s were marked by a large number of major, international terrorist attacks, including the Lod Airport massacre and

10695-484: The partition plan cannot be carried out at this time by peaceful means. ... unless emergency action is taken, there will be no public authority in Palestine on that date capable of preserving law and order. Violence and bloodshed will descend upon the Holy Land. Large-scale fighting among the people of that country will be the inevitable result. On 14 May 1948, the day on which the British Mandate over Palestine expired,

10810-432: The possible extensions of encouragement to plots to assassinate Gaddafi—and backing anti-Libyan groups in neighbouring Chad . In February 1974 Sadat told United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to encourage Israel to refrain from attacking Egypt in the event it went to war with Libya. In early 1976 Gaddafi deployed Libyan troops along the Egyptian border , where they began clashing with Egyptian border guards. In

10925-598: The price of oil fourfold, and used it as a political weapon to gain support against Israel. The Yom Kippur War accommodated indirect confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. When Israel had turned the tide of war, the USSR threatened military intervention. The United States, wary of nuclear war , secured a ceasefire on 25 October. Following the Camp David Accords of the late 1970s, Israel and Egypt signed

11040-715: The pursuit of unity were abandoned. Unnerved by Sadat's peace policy, Gaddafi sought to increase Libya's role in Middle Eastern affairs. Bolstered by strong oil revenues, he began acquiring a significant amount of weapons from the Soviet Union . He also sponsored Egyptian dissidents such as the Muslim Brotherhood , armed Egyptian insurgents, and made plans to assassinate Sadat. The Egyptian President responded by supporting subversion in Libya—including

11155-426: The raid to be "highly effective". One Egyptian Su-7 was shot down and its pilot was captured. He was later presented as a captive on television. Other Egyptian jets attacked radar stations at Bardia and Jaghbub . A substantial Egyptian mechanised force—possibly as large as two divisions—advanced into Libya along the coast towards the town of Musaid . Aside from a few tank clashes, the Libyans retreated in face of

11270-523: The reason Egypt did not attack Libya at the time was because its army was unprepared; Egyptian forces had never rehearsed an invasion of Libya, and lacked the infrastructure and logistics in the Western Desert to support such an operation. Nevertheless, the Egyptian General Staff made plans for an attack. Egyptian Minister of War Mohamed Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy stated that the Egyptian Army

11385-550: The region to this day. At the end of August 1967, Arab leaders met in Khartoum in response to the war, to discuss the Arab position toward Israel. They reached consensus that there should be no recognition, no peace, and no negotiations with the State of Israel, the so-called "three no's", which according to Abd al Azim Ramadan, left only one option – a war with Israel. In 1968, American senator Robert F. Kennedy

11500-646: The region. Following several failed attempts to solve the problem diplomatically, the British asked the newly formed United Nations for help. On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly appointed a committee, the UNSCOP , composed of representatives from eleven states. To make the committee more neutral, none of the Great Powers were represented. After five weeks of in-country study, the Committee reported to

11615-426: The return of Amin al-Husseini from Damascus to Jerusalem in late 1920. At this point in time Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine continued, while to some opinions a similar, but less documented, immigration also took place in the Arab sector, bringing workers from Syria and other neighbouring areas. Palestinian Arabs saw this rapid influx of Jewish immigrants as a threat to their homeland and their identity as

11730-641: The self-proclaimed Hashemite kingdom with its capital in Damascus was defeated and the Hashemite ruler took refuge in Mandatory Iraq. The crisis saw the first confrontation of nationalist Arab and Jewish forces, taking place in the Battle of Tel Hai in March 1920, but more importantly the collapse of the pan-Arabist kingdom led to the establishment of the local Palestinian version of Arab nationalism, with

11845-497: The summer Sadat decided to take military action against Libya's provocations, moving two mechanised divisions —totaling 25,000–35,000 troops—to the border and transferring 80 combat aircraft to Marsa Matruh Airbase , Egypt's westernmost airfield. Alarmed by this sudden escalation, Gaddafi dispatched an additional 3,000–5,000 troops and 150 tanks to the border. On 22 July Gaddafi ordered Egypt to close its consulate in Benghazi . For

11960-600: The territory allocated by the UN to the Jewish State, creating a large number of refugees and capturing the towns of Tiberias , Haifa , Safad , Beisan and, in effect, Jaffa . Early in 1948 the United Kingdom announced its firm intention to terminate its mandate in Palestine on 14 May. In response, US President Harry S. Truman made a statement on 25 March proposing UN trusteeship rather than partition, stating that unfortunately, it has become clear that

12075-539: The war, the British government would support establishing an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine. The Arab revolt, led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Husayn's son Faysal, was successful in defeating the Ottomans, and Britain took control over much of this area. In 1917, Palestine was conquered by the British forces (including

12190-511: The war. Libya and Egypt both portrayed the outcome as a victory for themselves. They never reached a formal peace agreement after the war, but ceased combat operations and upheld a truce. Tensions nevertheless remained high, with Sadat and Gaddafi trading insults in the days following the conflict. Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Moneim al-Houni wrote a letter to the United Nations Security Council , alleging that

12305-493: The war. Having participated in the Yom Kippur War, Egyptian forces also had a fair amount of combat experience, maintained a high level of professionalism, and were led by a skilled group of generals. However, morale among the soldiers was mixed, as some had reservations about fighting a fellow Arab nation over what seemed to be a dispute related to peace with Israel, a former enemy. The Egyptian forces also struggled with

12420-572: The warning and left most of their units at low levels of readiness, despite continuing to engage in border clashes with Egyptian forces. By the early summer Egypt had completed its preparations for war. The Egyptian Air Force transferred Su-20 and Su-7 fighter-bombers of the No. 55 Squadron and Mirage 5 strike aircraft of the No. 69 Squadron to Marsa Matruh Airbase and nearby installations in anticipation of conflict. Significant clashes occurred on 12 and 16 July, and on 19 July Libyan forces engaged in

12535-544: Was assassinated following a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles , California. The assassin, Sirhan Sirhan , was a Palestinian-Jordanian Arab Christian who cited Kennedy's support for Israel during the Six-Day War as his motive for the killing; Sirhan was sentenced to life in prison. Some scholars described Kennedy's murder as the first spillover of the Arab–Israeli conflict (and in particular

12650-462: Was adopted by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. All six Arab states who were UN-members voted against it. On the ground, Arab and Jewish Palestinians were fighting openly to control strategic positions in the region. Several major atrocities were committed by both sides. In the weeks prior to the end of the mandate the Haganah launched a number of offensives in which they gained control over all

12765-601: Was carved into a separate British protectorate – the Emirate of Transjordan, which gained an autonomous status in 1928 and achieved complete independence in 1946 with the approval by the United Nations of the end of the British Mandate. A major crisis among the Arab nationalists took place with the failed establishment of the Arab Kingdom of Syria in 1920. With the disastrous outcome of the Franco-Syrian War ,

12880-422: Was minimal and units typically managed only a 50 percent operational readiness level or less. The Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LARAF), led by Colonel Mahdi Saleh al-Firjani, possessed over 100 Mirages and MiG-23 fighter aircraft each, but technical problems grounded the latter. Gaddafi had also politicised the army by frequently shuffling commands and making appointments based on personal loyalty and thus

12995-561: Was preparing for conflict in the west, while Egyptian media declared that Gaddafi was planning to annex the Western Desert with aid from Cuba . Gaddafi increased his political pressure on Egypt, while the Egyptians continued to stockpile supplies and concentrate forces along the border. In May 1977 the Soviets told Libya and other Arab countries that they had evidence that Egypt was planning to launch an invasion. The Libyans ignored

13110-557: Was signed at the southern border crossing of Arabah on 26 October 1994 and made Jordan only the second Arab country (after Egypt) to sign a peace accord with Israel. Israel and Iraq have been implacable foes since 1948. Iraq sent its troops to participate in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , and later backed Egypt and Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In June 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed newly built Iraqi nuclear facilities in Operation Opera . During

13225-531: Was underway, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, secretly corresponded with Husayn ibn 'Ali , the patriarch of the Hashemite family and Ottoman governor of Mecca and Medina. McMahon convinced Husayn to lead an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with Germany against Britain and France in the war. McMahon promised that if the Arabs supported Britain in

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