Issue Date: July 01, 1970
Middle East:
Golan Heights Clashes
Israeli and Syrian forces fought large-scale clashes along the cease-fire line in the Golan Heights June 24-26. The combatants committed tanks, artillery and aircraft. [See 1970 Middle East: Israeli Commando Raids]
Israel claimed the Syrians started the fighting June 24 with a tank and artillery attack on Israeli forces and three Israeli settlements. Israeli troops, joined by jet strikes, responded by bombing Syrian tanks and artillery, silencing the enemy fire. Damascus claimed that 175 Israelis had been killed or wounded in attacks by Syrian tanks and motorized units that crossed the cease-fire line. Jerusalem conceded that eight Israeli soldiers were wounded.
The fighting June 25 erupted along a 35-mile front and was marked by an Israeli jet attack on large Syrian military camps nine and a half miles southwest and six miles south of Damascus. Another large Syrian camp near Es Suweida, further south, also was hit. Israel claimed it downed a Syrian MiG-21. In the ground fighting, Israel reported destroying two Syrian tanks, forcing the remaining enemy tanks to retreat across the cease-fire line. According to Damascus' version of the battle, eight Israeli tanks were destroyed, three Israeli jets were downed and 97 Syrians and 45 Israelis were killed or wounded. Damascus warned that it would intensify the fighting to prevent Israel from establishing paramilitary settlements in the Golan Heights.
In fighting June 26, Israel reported shooting down four Syrian jets and acknowledged the loss of one of its own planes. The report also claimed the destruction of at least 20 Syrian tanks and six Syrian fortified positions. It said 37 Syrians were taken prisoner and a Soviet-made SU-100 tank was captured. The Jerusalem communique placed Israeli casualties at four killed and 29 wounded. Damascus claimed 11 Israeli planes were downed and 12 Israeli tanks destroyed. The Syrians said the Israelis had suffered 250 casualties. Israeli armored units crossed the cease-fire line at Rafid and attacked Syrian fortifications and tank concentrations. A Syrian armored column retaliated by attacking east of El Quneitra, but the Israelis said this assault was repulsed. The ground fighting had been touched off by a second Israeli air strike against the Syrian camps struck the previous day.
Israel reported that in the three days of fighting, 10 of its soldiers were killed and 38 wounded. The Israelis shot down five Syrian jets. Damascus said Israel lost 14 jets and suffered 470 casualties.
The new outbreak of fighting followed an Israeli report June 23 that Syria had nearly doubled its tank force since the 1967 war. Israeli military sources estimated the number at about 900, compared with about 500 at the start of the war. The new armored strength had been supplied by the Soviet Union along with training and advisers, it was said.
Israeli forces had penetrated deep into Syria June 16 to attack targets near Damascus. The raiders, apparently arriving by helicopters, shelled a military camp near Nebk, 20 miles northeast of Damascus and 69 miles from the cease-fire line, and blew up a bridge on a highway 24 miles south of the Syrian capital. Israel said the attack was in response to an increase in Syrian aggression. A spokesman reported that Syria had violated the cease-fire 49 times in 30 days, killing three Israeli soldiers.
Damascus acknowledged June 17 that two Syrian soldiers had been killed in the attack on the camps near Damascus.
Citation:"Middle East: Golan Heights Clashes." Facts On File World News Digest1 July 1970. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services. 29 July 2009 <