Six-Day War Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Initial attack==== One of the Jordanian brigades stationed in the [[West Bank]] was sent to the [[Hebron]] area in order to link with the Egyptians. The IDF's strategic plan was to remain on the defensive along the Jordanian front, to enable focus in the expected campaign against Egypt. Intermittent machine-gun exchanges began taking place in Jerusalem at 9:30 am, and the fighting gradually escalated as the Jordanians introduced mortar and recoilless rifle fire. Under the orders from General Narkis, the Israelis responded only with small-arms fire, firing in a flat trajectory to avoid hitting civilians, holy sites or the Old City. At 10:00 am on 5 June, the [[Jordanian Army]] began shelling Israel. Two batteries of 155 mm [[155 mm Long Tom|Long Tom]] cannons opened fire on the suburbs of [[Tel Aviv]] and [[Ramat David Airbase]]. The commanders of these batteries were instructed to lay a two-hour barrage against military and civilian settlements in central Israel. Some shells hit the outskirts of [[Tel Aviv]].<ref name="Washington Institute for Near East Policy 2002">"On June 5, Israel sent a message to Hussein urging him not to open fire. Despite shelling into West Jerusalem, Netanya, and the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel did nothing." [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2080 The Six-Day War and Its Enduring Legacy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216005405/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2080 |date=16 February 2006 }}. Summary of remarks by Michael Oren at the [[Washington Institute for Near East Policy]], 29 May 2002.</ref> By 10:30 am, Eshkol had sent a message via [[Odd Bull]] to [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] promising not to initiate any action against Jordan if it stayed out of the war.<ref name="Neff1984">{{Cite book|author=Donald Neff|title=Warriors for Jerusalem: the six days that changed the Middle East|url=https://archive.org/details/warriorsforjerus00neff|url-access=registration|year=1984|publisher=Linden Press/Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-45485-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/warriorsforjerus00neff/page/205 205]|quote=Odd Bull: "[the message] was a threat, pure and simple and it is not the normal practice of the U.N. to pass on threats from one government to another." However, as "โฆthis message seemed so importantโฆ we quickly sent itโฆand King Hussein received the message before 10:30 the same morning."|access-date=27 October 2015}}</ref> King Hussein replied that it was too late, "[[alea iacta est|the die was cast]]".<ref name="Shlaim2000p243" /> At 11:15 am, Jordanian howitzers began a 6000-shell barrage at Israeli Jerusalem. The Jordanians initially targeted [[kibbutz]] [[Ramat Rachel]] in the south and [[Mount Scopus]] in the north, then ranged into the city centre and outlying neighbourhoods. Military installations, the Prime Minister's Residence, and the [[Knesset]] compound were also targeted. Jordanian forces shelled the [[Beit HaNassi]] and the [[Biblical Zoo]], killing fifteen civilians.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The broom closet where history was made |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/the-broom-closet-where-history-was-made-492065 |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=โจ15 _ืืืจืืื ื ืืจืื ืโญ500" ื ืคืฆืขื ืืืจืืฉืืื โฉ โ โจโจืืืจโฉ 7 ืืื ื 1967โฉ โ ืืกืคืจืืื ืืืืืืืช ืฉื ืืฉืจืื โ ืขืืชืื ืื |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1967/06/07/01/article/15 |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref> Israeli [[civilian casualties]] totalled 20 dead and over 1000 wounded. Some 900 buildings were damaged, including [[Hadassah Medical Center|Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital]], which had its [[Chagall]]-made windows destroyed.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|pp=185โ187}} At 11:50 am, sixteen Jordanian Hawker Hunters attacked [[Netanya]], [[Kfar Sirkin]] and [[Kfar Saba]], killing one civilian, wounding seven and destroying a transport plane. Three Iraqi Hawker Hunters strafed civilian settlements in the Jezreel Valley, and an Iraqi [[Tupolev Tu-16]] attacked [[Afula]], and was shot down near the Megiddo airfield. The attack caused minimal material damage, hitting only a senior citizens' home and several chicken coops, but sixteen Israeli soldiers were killed, most of them when the Tupolev crashed.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|pp=185โ187}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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