r/WorIdPoIitics

On this day in history, October 6, 1973, the Battle of the Valley of Tears began in the Golan Heights.

Over the next four days, heavily outnumbered Israeli soldiers would fight one of the most desperate and heroic battles in Israel's history.

It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Across Israel, people were fasting and praying when Egypt and Syria launched their attacks. Sirens broke the silence. Reservists rushed from their homes and synagogues to join a war that had already begun.

In the northern Golan Heights, Israeli tank crews faced wave after wave of Syrian armor. The defenders included the 7th Armored Brigade, commanded by Avigdor "Yanush" Ben-Gal, and soldiers from the 188th Armored Brigade. Among them was the 77th Battalion, led by Avigdor Kahalani.

Their task was to stop a much larger force from breaking through the northern Golan. Behind them lay the roads toward northern Israel.

For days, they fought under heavy shellfire. At night, Syrian tanks had night-vision equipment that the Israeli crews lacked. Enemy tanks slipped through the darkness, and some clashes took place at terrifyingly close range. The defenders lost tanks and friends, but kept fighting.

By October 9, the fourth day, the Israeli force was badly worn down. Crews were exhausted. Tanks had been destroyed or damaged. Ammunition was running dangerously low.

Then the Syrians launched another major attack.

Under heavy bombardment, some Israeli tanks pulled back from the high ground overlooking the valley. If the Syrians took those positions, the defense could collapse.

Kahalani rallied the remaining tanks and led them forward to regain the heights. His men were pushed close to their limits, but they followed. They reached the firing positions and fought Syrian tanks at distances of just tens of meters.

Eleven tanks led by Yossi Ben-Hanan arrived to reinforce the battered defenders. Israeli artillery poured fire onto the Syrian attack. Together, the crews, commanders and supporting forces held on.

By midday, the Syrian tanks began to withdraw.

The line had held.

The valley was left littered with hundreds of wrecked Syrian tanks and armored vehicles. The victory came at a terrible cost to the Israeli soldiers who fought there and the families who would never see them return.

After the battle, Ben-Gal told Kahalani over the radio: "You are a hero of Israel."

The Valley of Tears became a symbol of Israeli courage because the men who defended it kept fighting through fear, exhaustion, loss and dwindling ammunition. Their stand stopped a breakthrough in the northern Golan and helped give Israel the time it needed to turn the war around.

They stormed communities, murdered families in their homes, raped, burned and kidnapped.

Three years on, Israel remembers the victims and the barbarity of Palestinian jihadist terrorism.

We will never forget.

Source: https://x.com/israel/status/2107674525458718931?s=46&t=YRh59JXhCHDFoUYvch0TKA