1973 Syrian General Staff Headquarters raid
33°28′41″N 36°13′29″E / 33.478131°N 36.224836°E
Syrian GHQ Raid | |||||
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Part of the Yom Kippur War | |||||
Syrian soldiers stand guard in the aftermath of the strike | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Israel | Syria | ||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
Benny Peled Arnon Lavoshin (Lapidot) | Unknown | ||||
Strength | |||||
7 F-4 Phantom II | Unknown | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
1 killed 1 captured | Unknown number of military casualties, 26–30 civilians killed, 117 injured |
The 1973 Syrian General Staff Headquarters Raid was an aerial strike carried out by the
Background
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) had entered the Yom Kippur War confident that it could deal with the threats posed by enemy air defences and be able to provide Israeli ground forces with essential close air support. When war broke out, however, the desperate situation along the fronts forced the IAF to abandon its plans for the suppression of enemy air defences, and concentrate its efforts on halting Egyptian and Syrian advances.
At 03:35 on October 9, Syrian
Strike
In order to allow IAF aircraft to strike targets inside Syria without overflying the heavily defended regions around the Golan Heights, new attack routes through Lebanon had to be opened. The IAF therefore first attacked the Lebanese radar station at Barouk, which had been linked to the Syrian air defence network and was capable of supplying Syrian defenders with advance warning of Israeli strikes.[2][10]
Three IAF squadrons were assigned the task of attacking the Syrian GHQ in Damascus and each was to contribute 8 F-4E Phantom IIs. Leading the strike would be a formation from 119 "Bat" Squadron, led by squadron deputy CO Arnon Lavoshin (Lapidot). These were to be followed by 107 Squadron Phantoms led by squadron leader Iftach Spector, with a 69 Squadron 8-ship formation coming in last.[8]
Having taken off from their bases in Israel, the three Israeli formations first headed out over the
One after the other, the seven Phantoms from 119 Squadron released their bomb loads. The top floors of the Syrian GHQ were hit, as were the adjacent Syrian Air Force headquarters, a nearby TV station, a Soviet cultural center and several other structures in the city's diplomatic quarter.[2][9][10] Having arrived unchallenged, the Israeli aircraft extricating themselves were now engaged by the dense air defence array guarding Damascus. Two aircraft were hit. One Phantom was downed outright, killing pilot Captain Dov Shafir. His navigator, Lieutenant Yaakov Yaakobi, fell into Syrian captivity where he was beaten and tortured.[11] Another aircraft was heavily damaged and suffered an engine fire, yet its pilot, Major Omri Afek, managed to bring it to a safe landing in Ramat David.[8][12]
Unlike Lavoshin's formation, the eight 107 Squadron Phantoms from Hatzerim were flying a slightly different route to the target. These failed to spot any opening in the cloud cover over the target and therefore requested an alternate target. The Phantoms were diverted to bomb Syrian armor near Hushniyah, on the Golan Heights.[2] Their strike decimated a tank column and allowed Israeli forces to push Syrian forces back over the pre-war ceasefire lines.[13] The trailing 69 Squadron aircraft, having heard the 107 strike called off, returned to base after dumping their bombs and excess fuel in the Mediterranean, a decision which would later lead to much criticism from fellow pilots.[14]
Aftermath
Syria reported 26 civilians were killed in the strike and 117 injured,[15] while the Soviet Union reported 30 people killed in its cultural center. Among the dead were several foreign diplomats. The collateral damage caused by the strike earned Israel a sharp rebuke from the international community,[3][8] with the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations condemning the raid as "barbaric".[16] Syria claimed its air defences had shot down four of the attacking aircraft.[17]
The raid on the Syrian GHQ, as well as on other strategic targets, nevertheless prompted Syria to withdraw air defence assets from the front in order to protect its high-value assets, thereby thinning front line defences.[3] Both the Syrian GHQ and Air Force headquarters were forced to relocate. Israeli POWs returning after the war revealed that several airmen had been held in the bowels of the air force command center at the time of the strike and that the Syrians had later questioned them about how the IAF had known to avoid hitting their quarters.[9][13]
Major Arnon Lavoshin was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service, Israel's third-highest wartime decoration, for leading the raid.[8] His navigator, Lieutenant Elazar Lior, received an IDF Chief-of-Staff citation.[18] Major Afek, leading 119's second four-ship formation, was also awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service for his role in the raid and for nursing his stricken aircraft to a safe landing, as well as for several other undertakings later in the war.[12]
See also
Notes
- ^ Norton (2004), pp. 36-37
- ^ a b c d e f Dunstan (2003), pp. 60-61
- ^ a b c d Norton (2004), p. 39
- ^ "Syria Missile Development – 1997". The Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. Archived from the original on 2010-07-06. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Ramat David attacked by FROGs" (in Hebrew). Israeli Air Force official website. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ Nordeen (1990), pp. 127-128
- ^ Aloni (2004), p. 41
- ^ a b c d e Norton (2004), p. 235
- ^ a b c d Cohen (1995), pp. 357-359
- ^ a b "Syrian Capital Bombed as Mid East War escalates". Merced Sun-Star. Associated Press. October 9, 1973. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ Barkat, Liad (February 1, 1998). "Yaakobi's Box". Israeli Air Force Magazine (in Hebrew) (119).
- ^ a b "Major Afek Omri" (in Hebrew). IDF Manpower Directorate. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ a b Yonay (1993), pp. 359-360
- ^ Spector (2008), pp. 258-259. Spector erroneously confuses 69 and 201 squadrons.
- ^ Nicolle and Cooper (2004), pp. 66-67
- ^ Kramer, Gene (October 10, 1973). "Soviet Condemns Israeli Strike As Barbaric, Walks out of U.N." Schenectady Gazette. Associated Press. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- Beaver County Times. United Press International. October 9, 1973. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ "Captain Lior Elazar" (in Hebrew). IDF Manpower Directorate. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
Bibliography
- Aloni, Shlomo (2004). Israeli Phantom II Aces. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-783-2.
- Cohen, Eliezer (1995). Israel's Best Defence. Random House Value Publishing. ISBN 978-0-517-13789-5.
- Dunstan, Simon (2003). The Yom Kippur War 1973 (1): The Golan Heights. Campaign. Vol. 118. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-220-3.
- Nicolle, David; Cooper, Tom (2004). Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Combat Aircraft. UK: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84176-655-3.
- Nordeen, Lon (1990). Fighters Over Israel. New York: Orion Books. ISBN 0-517-56603-6.
- Norton, Bill (2004). Air War on the Edge – A History of the Israel Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947. ISBN 1-85780-088-5.
- Spector, Iftach (2008). Loud and Clear (in Hebrew). Yediot Ahronot.
- Yonay, Ehud (1993). No Margin for Error: the Making of the Israeli Air Force. Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-679-41563-3.