Escalation – Stage 1: From skirmishes in the demilitarized zones to aerial sorties

The Six Day War broke out ostensibly as a direct result of the growing tension between Israel and Syria, which reached its height in spring 1967, but the border dispute between them was not new. It was a protracted local skirmish. The traditional Syrian commitment to the Arab struggle against Israel had become increasingly radical, advocating and backing a ‘popular war of liberation’. Israel for its part responded by launching massive aerial operations.