Also referred to as the October War, Ramadan War, or Yom Kippur War. A coalition of Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a surprise attack on
Israeli forces on October 6, 1973, crossing the Suez Canal into the
Sinai Peninsula and attacking the
Golan Heights. The Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights had both been captured by
Israel during the
1967 War. While Israel suffered severe military setbacks, particularly at the beginning of the campaign, the Egyptian and Syrian attacks were ultimately repelled and Israeli troops crossed to the west side of the Suez Canal before
United Nations Resolution 338 halted the fighting. The ability of the Egyptian troops to breach the Israeli Bar Lev line east of the Suez Canal at the beginning of the war served as a major victory for Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat, paving the way for his historic trip to
Jerusalem in 1977 and the
Camp David Accords of 1978. See "
Legacy of 1973 Arab-Israeli war reverberates 40 years on," Kevin Connolly, BBC, Oct 5, 2013; and "
Remembering the war in October," Hussein Elrazzaz, Al Jazeera English, Oct 7, 2013.