President Sisi meets with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces

CAIRO – 5 October 2025: As part of the celebrations in Egypt and the Armed Forces marking the 52nd anniversary of the glorious October 6 victories, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will convene a meeting on Sunday at the military headquarters in the New Administrative Capital with Armed Forces leaders, followed by a session with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The October War was a joint effort by Egypt and Syria, supported by military, political, and economic backing from Arab nations against Israel in 1973.

The war began on Saturday, October 6, 1973, corresponding to the 10th of Ramadan 1393 AH, with a surprise attack by Egyptian and Syrian forces on Israeli positions in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.

Referred to as the Yom Kippur War in Israel, the war witnessed strategic gains by the Egyptian and Syrian armies through their surprise attacks, with Egyptian forces advancing 20 km east of the Suez Canal and Syrian forces making significant progress in the Golan Heights.

As the war progressed, the Israeli military regrouped; on the Egyptian front, they executed the Deversoir operation, causing Egypt and Israel to face setbacks in the west bank of the canal and the Golan Heights.

During the war, major powers indirectly intervened. The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia provided military support to Syria and Egypt, while the United States supplied Israel with military aid.

Ultimately, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger mediated a ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel. Egypt and Israel later negotiated a comprehensive peace agreement at Camp David in 1979.

The war officially ended with the signing of the Disengagement Agreement on 31 May, 1974. As part of the agreement, Israel returned the city of Quneitra to Syria and the eastern bank of the Suez Canal to Egypt in exchange for the withdrawal of Egyptian and Syrian forces from the ceasefire line, with the establishment of a UN peacekeeping force to oversee the agreement.

Key outcomes of the war included Egypt regaining full control of the Suez Canal, reclaiming all territories in the Sinai Peninsula, and restoring parts of the Syrian Golan Heights, including Quneitra, to Syrian sovereignty.

Moreover, the war dispelled the notion of Israel's invincibility, setting the stage for the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in September 1978.

The war also led to the resumption of navigation in the Suez Canal in June 1975.