Operation Badr (1973)
Videos
Page
Operation Badr, also known as Plan Badr, was an Egyptian military offensive and operation across the Suez Canal that destroyed the Bar-Lev Line, a chain of Israeli fortifications along the frontline of the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, on 6 October 1973. It was launched in conjunction with a Syrian military offensive against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, triggering the Yom Kippur War. During the War of Attrition, which preceded Operation Badr, both Egypt and Syria had been seeking to recover the territories that Israel had captured from them during the 1967 Arab–Israeli War.
Egyptian military vehicles crossing the Suez Canal over one of the bridgeheads, 7 October 1973
Lt. Gen. Saad El Shazly was responsible for planning a crossing offensive
Egyptian soldiers on the east bank. Notice the carts. Pulled by two men, these transports greatly assisted in the movement of weapons and matériel on the east bank, while no vehicles had yet crossed.
Egyptian engineers employ water cannons to blast an opening in the massive Israeli sand wall.
Bar Lev Line
Videos
Page
The Bar-Lev Line was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal shortly after the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, during which Egypt lost the entire Sinai Peninsula. It was considered impenetrable by the Israeli military until it was overrun in less than two hours during Egypt's Operation Badr, which sparked the 1973 Arab–Israeli War.
Bar Lev Line
Haim Bar-Lev, seated center, 17th October 1973
Egyptian forces crossing the Suez Canal
Egyptian vehicles crossing the Suez Canal in the Sinai