Six-Day War

The Six-Day War (Hebrew: מלחמת ששת הימים, Milhemet Sheshet Ha Yamim; Arabic: النكسة, an-Naksah, "The Setback" or حرب ۱۹٦۷, Ḥarb 1967, "War of 1967"), also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967 by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria.

Relations between Israel and its neighbours had never fully normalized following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In the period leading up to June 1967 tensions became dangerously heightened. As a result, in reaction to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces along the Israeli border in the Sinai Peninsula, Israel launched a series of preemptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields on June 5. The Egyptians, whose defensive infrastructure was in a poor state, were caught by surprise, and nearly the entire Egyptian air force was destroyed with few Israeli losses, giving the Israelis air superiority. Simultaneously, the Israelis launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip and through the northern and central routes of the Sinai, which again caught the Egyptians by surprise. After some initial resistance, the Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, ordered the evacuation of the Sinai. On June 6 and 7, Israeli forces rushed westward in pursuit of the Egyptians, whose retreat was disorganized and chaotic. The Israelis inflicted heavy losses on the retreating Egyptian forces. By June 7 the Israelis had reached the Suez Canal and had taken Sharm el Sheikh in the south of the peninsula. Conquest of the Sinai was completed on June 8 when Israeli forces reached the peninsula's western coast.

Six-Day War (1899)

The Six-Day War of 1899 was fought between 14–19 April 1899, by the British Empire and the major punti clans of the New Territories. The British quickly and decisively ended armed resistance, but to prevent future resistance made concessions to placate the indigenous inhabitants.

Background

On 9 June 1898 the British and the Qing government signed the Second Convention of Peking granting the British a 99-Year lease to the New Territories.

Feeling abandoned by the Qing government and fearing for their traditional land rights and land use, the punti Chinese clans mobilised the clan militias which had been trained and equipped to defend against longshore raids by pirates and attempted to resist the British take over of the territory.

Events

The war began on 14 April with the insurgents burnt down the masthead the British had prepared for a flag-raising ceremony at the Flagstaff Hill in Tai Po.

A number of 125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment was sent to Tai Po on 15 April and were soon besieged by the villagers. They were rescued after the Royal Navy's HMS Fame shelled at the insurgents' position. On 17 April the British forces launched an attack on the insurgents in Lam Tsuen Valley and chased them up the hill. On 18 April the insurgents, numbering some 1,600, assaulted the British troops at Sheung Tsuen but was soon defeated. Further resistance was ended when British artillery was brought up against the punti walled villages and the insurgents and villagers surrendered on 19 April. Most prominent of the villages in the resistance Kat Hing Wai, of the Tang clan, was symbolically disarmed, by having its main gates dismounted and removed.

Six-Day War (2000)

The Six-Day War (French: Guerre des Six Jours) comprised a series of armed confrontations between Ugandan and Rwandan forces around the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 5 to 10 June 2000. The war formed part of the wider Second Congo War (1998–2003).

Kisangani was also a scene of violence between Rwandan and Ugandan troops in August 1999 and 5 May 2000. However, the conflicts of June 2000 were the most lethal, and seriously damaged a large part of the city, with more than 6,600 rounds fired.

According to Justice et Libération, a human rights organisation based in Kisangani, the violence resulted in around 1,000 deaths, and wounded at least 3,000; the majority of whom were civilians.

The conflict is called the "Six-Day War" not only due to its literal six-day duration but also because it shared the same dates as the Six-Day War between Israel and Arab states in 1967.

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