ABSTRACT
Israel's strike into Sinai began in the afternoon of 29 October with an armoured attack on Kuntilla and a paratroop drop in the Mitla pass. These manoeuvres were designed to appear as a large-scale probing action and thus minimize the extent of Egypt's initial reaction. The full force of the invasion came on the night of the 30th, with thrusts from al-Aujah to the Suez Canal and from Kuntilla towards Tiran, and the following evening, with the bombing of Egyptian airfields by Britain and France. Those Egyptian units which had not been withdrawn to the Canal area engaged the IDF in battle and in many cases, such as in the Mitla, fought fiercely. Throughout the Middle East, as elsewhere in the world, it was now known that this represented far more than a mere border clash, but was in fact the long-anticipated second Arab—Israel war.
