Politics

Egypt declassifies October war files as tension with Israel intensifies

The files offer a rare insight into Egypt's planning for its 1973 war on Israel and subsequent liberation of Sinai, demonstrating its ability to defend its territories

Egyptian troops pose atop a bunker on which they just planted their flag on the Israeli Bar Lev line east of the Suez Canal, Egypt, on Oct. 13, 1973.

Egypt declassifies October war files as tension with Israel intensifies

Amr Emam

last update on 23 Feb 2024

The October war files — released by the Egyptian Ministry of Defence earlier this month for the first time since 1973 — put the Egyptian army's ability to defend Egyptian territories under sharp focus.

The declassification of the files comes at a time of high tension with Israel, against the background of its current war on Gaza and plans by the Israeli army to invade Rafah — the furthest-south area where around 1.4 million Palestinians are displaced from the northern and central parts of the Palestinian territory.

The files give rare insights into the Egyptian army's plans for different battles in the war and the success of Egyptian troops in dealing with some operational pitfalls.

This includes what came to be known as Operation Gazelle, which was staged by Israel on 16 October 1973, exploiting a gap between the 2nd and 3rd Egyptian field armies in Ismailia — a city that overlooks the Suez Canal.

The files also shed light on support offered by Arab countries to Egypt during the war as the Egyptian army battled to regain Sinai, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.

The October war of 1973 caused seismic shifts in regional political conditions and major alterations in the regional order.

50 years on

The declassification of thousands of original files, dating back to the 1973 October war against Israel, was supposed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the war in October last year.

The Egyptian Ministry of Defence formed a panel of war veterans in August last year to review the files before declassifying them.

The war veterans should have finalised their review of the files by October.

Majalla

"The mission of reviewing the files was far from easy because we had to scrutinise every single document to make sure that we are not publicising any sensitive information about the army," Gen. Nasr Salem, an October war veteran and a member of the panel, told Al Majalla.

The Ministry of Defence published the documents on its website under the title '1973 October War Documents: War Secrets – Strategic and Military Planning'.

Almost 40% of the documents published were handwritten by army commanders during the war. They cover major turning points in the war, including the destruction by the Egyptian army of the Bar Lev Line — a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal to prevent the Egyptians from crossing the canal and entering Sinai.

One of the documents dated 22 April 1973 is addressed to the naval operations chief. The letter refers to a previous request to offer the necessary cover for troops fighting on the eastern bank of the Gulf of Suez in what came to be known as Operation Granite 2.

Another document talks about the Chinese Farm battle — an offensive launched by army troops on 26 October 1973 in reaction to Operation Gazelle.

The documents include dozens of maps, hundreds of letters, and transcriptions of communications between different Egyptian army commanders and officers.

They cover a wide range of developments during the war in full detail, including also coordination between the Egyptian and Syrian armies ahead of and during the October War.

The documents include dozens of maps, hundreds of letters, and transcriptions of communications between different Egyptian army officers.

Far-reaching

The 1973 offensive for the liberation of Sinai from Israeli occupation was consequential for Egypt, the region and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The offensive surprised the Israelis, given the enormity of deception the Egyptians employed before they launched it.

The Egyptian army command chose to stage the war, including a series of sudden air strikes on Israeli army positions in occupied Sinai on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism.

This was also during the Islamic month of Ramadan when the Egyptians observed their fast — the most unlikely time for fighting. The Egyptians also chose to strike in broad daylight, to the utter disbelief of Israeli troops.

Victories scored by the Egyptian army in the early hours of the offensive sent the Israelis scrambling for help from the US.

Several days of fighting led to a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from most of Sinai, and peace-making efforts mediated by the US in subsequent years.

These efforts opened the door for signing the Camp David Accords in 1978 and the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (L), Israeli Premier Menachem Begin (R) and US President Jimmy Carter (C) shake hands after a press conference in the East Room of the White House on September 17, 1978.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign peace with Israel, a prescient development in a region where the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to be in full focus, even decades later.

Some Arabs faulted the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel for all Arab setbacks and defeats later, especially given the fact that the treaty neutralised Egypt, leaving the Palestinians, the Syrians and the Lebanese high and dry as they struggled to liberate their territories from Israeli occupation.

However, the Egyptian victory in the war surprised the international community and was heartening to Arabs everywhere. It belied claims about Israeli military superiority.

The shock accompanying the Egyptian victory was rooted in the wide discrepancy between Israel and Egypt's military might.

Egypt's 1973 victory surprised the international community and was heartening to Arabs everywhere. It belied claims about Israeli military superiority

Disinformation

The files made public by the Egyptian Ministry of Defence are important in that they document one of the most important events in Egypt's modern history.

They acquire their weight by offering a first-person account of what happened during this important event.

The same files also refute Israeli propaganda about the war, which seeks to belittle the Egyptian victory and exaggerate the performance of the Israeli army during the war, war veterans say.

"The documents disprove many of the claims made by Israel about the war, having been written by the people fighting in this war," Gen. Salem said.

"This is very important for setting the record straight about the war, without lying or exaggeration," he added.

AFP — A boy takes pictures with a phone of a recreated war scene while visiting the "6th of October War Panorama" museum and memorial of the 1973 October War in Cairo on October 1, 2023.

Most of Israel's narrative about the war dismisses Egyptian achievements in the war, sometimes claiming that the Egyptians could not score any significant victories beyond their initial offensive on 6 October.

Israeli propaganda also focuses on Operation Gazelle, usually describing it as a humiliating defeat for the Egyptian army.

However, the recently declassified documents offer a completely different account of the same operation. They shed light on the battles the Egyptian army waged to bridge the gap and sabotage the Israeli operation and the significant Israeli soldier losses during those battles, which far outnumbered Egyptian losses.

Critical timing

The publicising of the war files comes at a time of heightened tensions between Egypt and Israel — especially as Israel plans to invade southern Gaza, only a few kilometres away from the Egyptian border.

The impending invasion exacerbates Egyptian fears of an expected exodus of Palestinian refugees towards Egypt. It has warned that an Israeli invasion of Rafah would constitute a threat to Egyptian security.

Egypt is now fortifying its border fence with Gaza to prevent a stampede of residents from the Palestinian coastal enclave into Sinai.

Reuters — Workers build a large cement fence near the border with Gaza, which Egypt says will be a 'logistics zone' to receive aid for Gaza.

However, there are fears that Egyptian troops – now standing on alert on the border – would be hand-tied if a storming of the border fence happens by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians escaping with their lives from Israeli attacks in southern Gaza.

Egypt is afraid that once they enter Sinai, the Palestinians of Gaza would establish permanent presence, especially against the background of apparent Israeli plans to depopulate Gaza and reoccupy it.

This makes the declassified documents all the more important as they remind everyone that Egypt is more than capable of keeping threats to its territories at bay.

"The files bring to light Egypt's ability to defend its own territories," retired diplomat Gamal Bayoumi, a former head of the Israel Section at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, told Al Majalla.

"They give assurances about the preparedness of the Egyptian army, now possessing the latest arms, for the defence of Egypt's borders," he added.

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