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Battle of Suez
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Battle of Suez
The Battle of Suez was fought on October 24–25, 1973 between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the Egyptian town of Suez. It was the closing battle of the Yom Kippur War, before a ceasefire took effect.
On October 23, with the imminent arrival of UN observers to the front, Israel decided to capture Suez, assuming it would be poorly defended. An armored brigade and an infantry battalion from the Paratroopers Brigade were committed to the task, and entered the city without a battle plan.
The armored column was ambushed and severely hit, while the paratroopers came under heavy fire and many of them became trapped inside a local building. The armored column and part of the infantry force were evacuated during the day, while the main contingent of the paratrooper force eventually managed to dash out of the city and make their way back to Israeli lines. The battle is considered a rare example of the defenders successfully repulsing an offensive force in urban warfare.
At 4:00 pm on Tuesday, October 23, the United Nations Security Council met in New York City to reconfirm the ceasefire and send observers to the fighting front. At 6:00 pm, General Ensio Siilasvuo, head of the UN Emergency Force in Cairo, called the Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, and told him of the decision. Dayan suggested that the ceasefire go into effect at 7:00 am local time, thirty-six hours after the original ceasefire was supposed take effect, and Siilasvuo accepted. The Israeli Chief of Staff, David Elazar, said in the Kirya that he was in a dilemma. From a military perspective, the IDF needed a few more days to make the Egyptian Third Army surrender and cut off the Second Army, which would collapse the entire Egyptian military. On the other hand, Israel had a great debt to the United States as a result of the massive arms shipments of Operation Nickel Grass. He later said it was the latter consideration that made him accept the ceasefire.
The town of Suez had about 260,000 residents before the War of Attrition, but most of them left during that conflict. However, there were enough men to form a militia, which would make up part of the city's defense force. On October 23, division commander Major-General Avraham Adan had three armored brigades and a makeshift infantry brigade made up of five or six battalions. By October 24, Israel had two brigades on the outskirts of the city, and one battalion from Yoffe's paratroopers brigade southwest of the town at the Gulf of Suez near the old oil refinery. Suez was thus completely isolated from Egypt from the west, and so was most of the Third Army. Yoffe had pushed across the Sarag road west of Suez put a further blocked the Egyptians. Capturing Suez was not considered psychologically or strategically important, although it was presumed to hold supplies for the Third Army. Throughout October 22 to 23, many Egyptian officers and soldiers had withdrawn into Suez. Most of these belonged to administrative and supply units that had been stationed on the west bank of the canal. They also contained a number of units from Third Army that had been engaging Israeli forces since October 16. The number of Egyptian forces inside Suez reached almost 5,000 men, possessing only small arms and assault rifles. Brigadier General Yusuf 'Afifi commanding the 19th Infantry Division east of the canal, reinforced the city with an ATGM company and a tank-hunting team. On its way to Suez, the company had expended its missiles in an engagement with Israeli tanks, destroying more than nine tanks. This left Egyptian forces in the city with a small number of RPG-7 weapons and RPG-43 grenades.
At 2:00 am, General Shmuel Gonen called Adan and asked him if he could capture Suez in the two to two and half hours between dawn and the ceasefire. Adan answered that it depended on the Egyptian defenses in the town, but that he thought that at least part of the town could be taken. Gonen said: "Okay, if it's Beersheba, go ahead; if it's Stalingrad, don't do it!", referring to Operation Yoav and the Battle of Stalingrad, respectively. Adan gave his orders accordingly. Israel argued that the attack would not be a violation of the ceasefire if it was launched before 7:00 am, even if the battle continued after that hour, since the Arabs were the ones who chose when to start the war and when to call for a ceasefire. Israel also claimed that the ceasefire did not apply to "mopping up" operations that were altering the rear areas and not the front line. Intelligence knew of a commando battalion, two infantry battalions and an antitank missile company. Since Egyptian soldiers had been mostly surrendering during the previous two days, Adan assumed the defenders of Suez would not resist.
An armored brigade, under the command of Colonel Aryeh Keren, had set up its headquarters west of Suez. Keren was in charge of the attack and ordered Yossi Yoffe to lead the attack with his reserve paratroopers using nine captured Soviet APCs, and drive up the main street of the town. He said the confidence based on which he was being sent was groundless. He said he had only one small map and had seen no air photos and asked for time to draw a plan. Adan pressured Keren to capture Suez before the arrival of the observers, and Keren told Yoffe that "in the armored corps, we take our orders while we're on the move", and gave thirty minutes to organize. A tank battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nahum Zaken was to lead the attack with its own infantry detachment, while Yoffe was to follow and leave platoons to secure the intersections.
At 10:50 Zaken's column, stretched for over a mile, started moving up the main street, an extension of the Cairo-Suez highway. His battalion was divided into three groups, each containing eight tanks, each tank followed by an APC or halftrack. Zaken had three miles to go before reaching a large square on the bank of the Gulf of Suez. Along the way, he saw Egyptian soldiers, mostly unarmed, and some of them raised their hands in surrender when they saw the Israeli column. All the Israeli tank and APC commanders were standing in their turrets.
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Battle of Suez
The Battle of Suez was fought on October 24–25, 1973 between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the Egyptian town of Suez. It was the closing battle of the Yom Kippur War, before a ceasefire took effect.
On October 23, with the imminent arrival of UN observers to the front, Israel decided to capture Suez, assuming it would be poorly defended. An armored brigade and an infantry battalion from the Paratroopers Brigade were committed to the task, and entered the city without a battle plan.
The armored column was ambushed and severely hit, while the paratroopers came under heavy fire and many of them became trapped inside a local building. The armored column and part of the infantry force were evacuated during the day, while the main contingent of the paratrooper force eventually managed to dash out of the city and make their way back to Israeli lines. The battle is considered a rare example of the defenders successfully repulsing an offensive force in urban warfare.
At 4:00 pm on Tuesday, October 23, the United Nations Security Council met in New York City to reconfirm the ceasefire and send observers to the fighting front. At 6:00 pm, General Ensio Siilasvuo, head of the UN Emergency Force in Cairo, called the Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, and told him of the decision. Dayan suggested that the ceasefire go into effect at 7:00 am local time, thirty-six hours after the original ceasefire was supposed take effect, and Siilasvuo accepted. The Israeli Chief of Staff, David Elazar, said in the Kirya that he was in a dilemma. From a military perspective, the IDF needed a few more days to make the Egyptian Third Army surrender and cut off the Second Army, which would collapse the entire Egyptian military. On the other hand, Israel had a great debt to the United States as a result of the massive arms shipments of Operation Nickel Grass. He later said it was the latter consideration that made him accept the ceasefire.
The town of Suez had about 260,000 residents before the War of Attrition, but most of them left during that conflict. However, there were enough men to form a militia, which would make up part of the city's defense force. On October 23, division commander Major-General Avraham Adan had three armored brigades and a makeshift infantry brigade made up of five or six battalions. By October 24, Israel had two brigades on the outskirts of the city, and one battalion from Yoffe's paratroopers brigade southwest of the town at the Gulf of Suez near the old oil refinery. Suez was thus completely isolated from Egypt from the west, and so was most of the Third Army. Yoffe had pushed across the Sarag road west of Suez put a further blocked the Egyptians. Capturing Suez was not considered psychologically or strategically important, although it was presumed to hold supplies for the Third Army. Throughout October 22 to 23, many Egyptian officers and soldiers had withdrawn into Suez. Most of these belonged to administrative and supply units that had been stationed on the west bank of the canal. They also contained a number of units from Third Army that had been engaging Israeli forces since October 16. The number of Egyptian forces inside Suez reached almost 5,000 men, possessing only small arms and assault rifles. Brigadier General Yusuf 'Afifi commanding the 19th Infantry Division east of the canal, reinforced the city with an ATGM company and a tank-hunting team. On its way to Suez, the company had expended its missiles in an engagement with Israeli tanks, destroying more than nine tanks. This left Egyptian forces in the city with a small number of RPG-7 weapons and RPG-43 grenades.
At 2:00 am, General Shmuel Gonen called Adan and asked him if he could capture Suez in the two to two and half hours between dawn and the ceasefire. Adan answered that it depended on the Egyptian defenses in the town, but that he thought that at least part of the town could be taken. Gonen said: "Okay, if it's Beersheba, go ahead; if it's Stalingrad, don't do it!", referring to Operation Yoav and the Battle of Stalingrad, respectively. Adan gave his orders accordingly. Israel argued that the attack would not be a violation of the ceasefire if it was launched before 7:00 am, even if the battle continued after that hour, since the Arabs were the ones who chose when to start the war and when to call for a ceasefire. Israel also claimed that the ceasefire did not apply to "mopping up" operations that were altering the rear areas and not the front line. Intelligence knew of a commando battalion, two infantry battalions and an antitank missile company. Since Egyptian soldiers had been mostly surrendering during the previous two days, Adan assumed the defenders of Suez would not resist.
An armored brigade, under the command of Colonel Aryeh Keren, had set up its headquarters west of Suez. Keren was in charge of the attack and ordered Yossi Yoffe to lead the attack with his reserve paratroopers using nine captured Soviet APCs, and drive up the main street of the town. He said the confidence based on which he was being sent was groundless. He said he had only one small map and had seen no air photos and asked for time to draw a plan. Adan pressured Keren to capture Suez before the arrival of the observers, and Keren told Yoffe that "in the armored corps, we take our orders while we're on the move", and gave thirty minutes to organize. A tank battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nahum Zaken was to lead the attack with its own infantry detachment, while Yoffe was to follow and leave platoons to secure the intersections.
At 10:50 Zaken's column, stretched for over a mile, started moving up the main street, an extension of the Cairo-Suez highway. His battalion was divided into three groups, each containing eight tanks, each tank followed by an APC or halftrack. Zaken had three miles to go before reaching a large square on the bank of the Gulf of Suez. Along the way, he saw Egyptian soldiers, mostly unarmed, and some of them raised their hands in surrender when they saw the Israeli column. All the Israeli tank and APC commanders were standing in their turrets.
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