Bir Gifgafa is an airfield in the Sinai, 90 km east of the Suez Canal. During the 1960s and 1970s it played a significant role in Arab–Israeli wars, at different times serving both Egypt and Israel.

Operation Focus was the opening airstrike by Israel at the start of the Six-Day War in 1967. It is sometimes referred to as the "Sinai Air Strike". At 07:45 on 5 June 1967, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) under Maj. Gen. Mordechai Hod launched a massive airstrike that destroyed the majority of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground. Following Syrian and Jordanian attacks in retaliation, the Israeli Air Force proceeded to bomb air bases in those countries. By noon, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian Air Forces, totaling about 450 aircraft, were destroyed. It was also very successful in disabling 18 airfields in Egypt, hindering Egyptian air operations for the duration of the war, and remains one of the most successful air attack campaigns in military history.