THE INTERVENTION OF WORLD POWERS IN ISRAEL'S WARS - II
3. SIX DAY WAR President Eisenhower did not honour his assurance that Israel could rely on the US to ensure freedom of navigation in the Tiran Straits and Gulf of Aqaba. In May 1967 Egyptian president, Abdel Nasser, announced that the Straits of Tiran would again be closed to Israeli vessels. He subsequently mobilised the Egyptian military along the border with Israel, and also ordered the immediate withdrawal of all UN personnel. On 5 June 1967, as the UN was in the process of leaving the zone, Israel launched a series of pre-emptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields and other facilities. Egyptian forces were caught by surprise, and nearly the whole of Egypt's military aerial assets were destroyed, giving Israel the advantage of air supremacy. Simultaneously, the Israeli military launched a ground offensive into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, as well as the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. By the sixth day of the conflict, Israel had occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula. ...