Six-Day War

====Israeli attack: first day (9 June)====
[[File:Israeli tanks advancing on the Golan Heights. June 1967. D327-098.jpg|thumb|right|Israeli tanks advancing on the Golan Heights. June 1967]]

On the morning of 9 June, Israeli jets began carrying out dozens of sorties against Syrian positions from [[Mount Hermon]] to [[Tawafiq, Syria|Tawfiq]], using rockets salvaged from captured Egyptian stocks. The airstrikes knocked out artillery batteries and storehouses and forced transport columns off the roads. The Syrians suffered heavy casualties and a drop in morale, with a number of senior officers and troops deserting. The attacks also provided time as Israeli forces cleared paths through Syrian minefields. However, the airstrikes did not seriously damage the Syrians' bunkers and trench systems, and the bulk of Syrian forces on the Golan remained in their positions.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|p=280}}

About two hours after the airstrikes began, the [[8th Armored Brigade (Israel)|8th Armored Brigade]], led by Colonel [[Albert Mandler]], advanced into the Golan Heights from [[Givat HaEm]]. Its advance was spearheaded by [[Engineering Corps (Israel)|Engineering Corps]] sappers and eight bulldozers, which cleared away barbed wire and mines. As they advanced, the force came under fire, and five bulldozers were immediately hit. The Israeli tanks, with their manoeuvrability sharply reduced by the terrain, advanced slowly under fire toward the fortified village of Sir al-Dib, with their ultimate objective being the fortress at Qala. Israeli casualties steadily mounted.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|pp=281–282}}

Part of the attacking force lost its way and emerged opposite Za'ura, a redoubt manned by Syrian reservists. With the situation critical, Colonel Mandler ordered simultaneous assaults on Za'ura and Qala. Heavy and confused fighting followed, with Israeli and Syrian tanks struggling around obstacles and firing at extremely short ranges. Mandler recalled that "the Syrians fought well and bloodied us. We beat them only by crushing them under our treads and by blasting them with our cannons at very short range, from 100 to 500 meters." The first three Israeli tanks to enter Qala were stopped by a Syrian bazooka team, and a relief column of seven Syrian tanks arrived to repel the attackers.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|pp=281–282}}

The Israelis took heavy fire from the houses, but could not turn back, as other forces were advancing behind them, and they were on a narrow path with mines on either side. The Israelis continued pressing forward and called for air support. A pair of Israeli jets destroyed two of the Syrian tanks, and the remainder withdrew. The surviving defenders of Qala retreated after their commander was killed. Meanwhile, Za'ura fell in an Israeli assault, and the Israelis also captured the 'Ein Fit fortress.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|pp=281–282}}

In the central sector, the Israeli 181st Battalion captured the strongholds of Dardara and Tel Hillal after fierce fighting. Desperate fighting also broke out along the operation's northern axis, where [[Golani Brigade]] attacked thirteen Syrian positions, including the formidable [[Tel Faher|Tel Fakhr]] position. Navigational errors placed the Israelis directly under the Syrians' guns. In the fighting that followed, both sides took heavy casualties, with the Israelis losing all nineteen of their tanks and half-tracks.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|p=283}} The Israeli battalion commander then ordered his twenty-five remaining men to dismount, divide into two groups, and charge the northern and southern flanks of Tel Fakhr. The first Israelis to reach the perimeter of the southern approach laid on the [[barbed wire]], allowing their comrades to vault over them. From there, they assaulted the fortified Syrian positions. The fighting was waged at extremely close quarters, often hand-to-hand.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|p=283}}

On the northern flank, the Israelis broke through within minutes and cleared out the trenches and bunkers. During the seven-hour battle, the Israelis lost 31 dead and 82 wounded, while the Syrians lost 62 dead and 20 captured. Among the dead was the Israeli battalion commander. The Golani Brigade's 51st Battalion took Tel 'Azzaziat, and Darbashiya also fell to Israeli forces.{{Sfnp|Oren|2002|p=283}}

[[File:1967-06-09 Egypt Accepts UN Cease-Fire.ogv|thumb|thumbtime=1:16|A [[Universal Newsreel]] from 9 June about the war and UN reactions.]]
By the evening of 9 June, the four Israeli brigades had all broken through to the plateau, where they could be reinforced and replaced. Thousands of reinforcements began reaching the front, those tanks and half-tracks that had survived the previous day's fighting were refuelled and replenished with ammunition, and the wounded were evacuated. By dawn, the Israelis had eight brigades in the sector.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

Syria's first line of defence had been shattered, but the defences beyond that remained largely intact. Mount Hermon and the Banias in the north, and the entire sector between Tawfiq and Customs House Road in the south remained in Syrian hands. In a meeting early on the night of 9 June, Syrian leaders decided to reinforce those positions as quickly as possible and to maintain a steady barrage on Israeli civilian settlements.{{cn|date=June 2022}}