1967-2017
The Six-Day-War broke out on June 5 1967. The conflict was as brief as it was intense. Israel successfully defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, conquering increasing portions of land, including Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, sparking off the beginning of the Palestinian question. The signs of that conflict are still visible…
The first attack came by surprise on June 5 1967. At 7.45 nearly all the Egyptian air force was destroyed by Israeli military aircrafts. The same occurred with the Syrian and Jordan aircrafts. Lacking the necessary air cover, Egyptian troops were defeated by Israeli ground offensive. The Israeli army reached the Sinai Peninsula passing across the Gaza Strip. Israel’s armoured brigades counterattacked also in Jerusalem and Jenin, crossing the border of the West Bank for the first time since 1948, after King Hussein’s Jordan has started bombing West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, on the grounds of a Mutual Defence Treaty signed with Egypt on May 30. On the following days Israeli armed forces reconfirmed their superiority on the ground, notably on the Egyptian front. On June 7 Israeli Forces broke into the Old City of Jerusalem, conquering the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall. On the Syrian front, Israel bombed the Golan Heights. The ceasefire declared by the UN was enforced on June 8 with Jordan and Egypt, followed by Syria at 3 am. Nonetheless Israel’s airstrikes and artillery barrage against the Golan Heights continued, until the area was conquered, forcing the Syrian army to withdraw towards Damascus. Hostilities ceased on June 10. On November 22 of the same year the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242 demanding the termination of all claims or states of belligerency in the Middle East, respect of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all States in the area, a just solution to the refugee problem, the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces “from occupied territories” (English text) and “des territoires occupés” (“from the occupied territories”, in the French text). A grammatical difference that sparked off various diplomatic interpretations, never clarified for the past 50 years. The Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 338 (After the Kippur War, 1973), demanding, inter alia, the full implementation of Resolution 242, was equally to no avail. In fact the “Six Day War” marked the passage of the whole of Palestine under full Israeli control, sparking off the beginning of the Palestinian question.
A marginal conflict. “The conflict has completely changed the scenario of the area.
Israel displayed its military power and efficiency to the Arab world. The latter acknowledge its defeat and its limits”
said Janiki Cingoli, chairperson of the Italian Centre for Peace in the Middle East (Cipmo.org), promoter of an event on the Six Day War that will take place in Milan on June 7, titled “50 years after the Six Day War: the Middle East in the Trump era.” “In this long period of time all attempts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been stalled. The International Community appears increasingly leaning towards a management of the conflict rather than towards its resolution – said the Cipmo chairperson – also because of the outbreak of other tragic crises in the Middle Eastern region comprising Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, compared to which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is viewed as increasingly less important.” For Cingoli the conflict between the Sunni area, ruled by the Saudis, and the Shiites, under Iranian leadership, also weighs on this issue:
“Trump’s recent mission in the Middle East aimed at relaunching US alliances in the Region and at creating an axis involving Sunni Arab Countries and Israel to contain – not to destroy – Iranian expansionism (Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah), along with Russia’s ever incisive and determining presence.”
“The quality leap”, said the CIPMO chairperson, which Trump intends to make “is to bring to light this veritable military alliance against Iran and ISIS. But it’s an evident contradiction since
Iran and ISIS don’t have much in common. In fact the Islamic State is connected with foundations and secret services linked to Sunni Wahabism. It’s hard to ascribe to it the responsibility of the terror attacks in Europe or against the Copts in Egypt.”
In order to achieve this goal, Cingoli said, “Trump said he intends to find a definitive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, requested by Riad and its Arab allies. It’s hard to say whether it’s propaganda or a realistic attempt. Perhaps by the summer there will be a summit between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Netanyahu, with some Arab leader in the background.” The matter at stake includes agreements and concessions of a commercial nature with Arab Countries (such as direct flights and telephone lines), understood as “interim steps as compared to what envisaged in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative”, but “Israel must resume the peace process and focus the settlements in the large blocs.”
Is the “Two Peoples-Two States” solution still feasible 50 years after the Six Day War and the outbreak of Israeli occupation? “ Trump’s diplomacy – Cingoli said – seems to be gearing towards the recognition of Palestinian land claims. These can be best described as interim steps that will not necessarily lead to the creation of a Palestinian State. A lot will depend on Netanyahu but also on the developments on the Palestinian front, marked by internal divisions.”
