Middle East 659
MID#3374
Dispute Number: 3374
Date(s): November 24, 1952 to March 25, 1954
Participants: 651 Egypt/666 Israel
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Between November 24 and November 30, Israeli troops and police killed
seven Egyptian infiltrators who had crossed the border; they arrested 46 others as well.
In January 1953 Egypt (Arab Legion) captured three Israeli soldiers and one civilian
who crossed the border by mistake.
Egypt also declared a blockade against Israeli food imports. In mid-January, two
Egyptians who crossed the border were killed and 25 detained in clashes with Israeli
security forces, and one week later Israeli troops and police wounded another Egyptian
who crossed the border and captured another 13.
On April 29, 1953, the Egyptians mined a bridge and attacked an Israeli truck near
the demilitarized zone at Auja el Hafir. On September 6, an Israeli Army unit engaged
in a border clash with armed Egyptians 20 kilometers southeast of Nitzana. A separate
Israeli patrol unit also engaged in a border clash with armed Egyptians who had crossed
the border near the Gaza strip. On December 29, Israel released six Egyptian students
who had crossed the border and had been seized on December 25.
The final incident occurred when Israeli and Egyptian forces engaged in a border
clash at Kisufim along the Gaza Strip on March 25, 1954, wounding one Israeli soldier.
Another soldier was captured by Egyptians. Nine other clashes occurred in the week
leading up to this incident.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from December 24, 1952. End Date changed from
March 26, 1954. Outcome changed from Unclear.
MID#3373
Dispute Number: 3373
Date(s): January 25, 1953 to September 14, 1956
Participants: 666 Israel/651 Egypt
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: 101–250 deaths
Narrative: After Egypt took a lead role in the opposition of a West German-Israeli
war reparations treaty, and went back on a pledge to cooperate with Israel in marking
the Gaza border, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) retaliated by raiding and infiltrating
Gaza on January 26, 1953. The two countries continued to have tension along the bor-
ders of Gaza and the demilitarized zone. Sixteen clashes occurred during April 1954,
when Israeli and Egyptian border forces exchanged heavy fire. In August 1954, Israel
launched two raids into Gaza and Egyptian bunkers fired on IDF border positions. On
November 7, the IDF attacked an Egyptian bunker, killed six Egyptian soldiers, and
took two captive.