Mitla Pass
| Mitla Pass | |
|---|---|
| File:To Sinai by car. The Mitla pass looking east from the plain LOC matpc.15553.jpg The Mitla pass in 1920 looking east from the plain | |
| Elevation | 480 m (1,575 ft) |
| Traversed by | Route 50 |
| Location | Sinai |
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 411: Malformed coordinates value. | |
The Mitla Pass (Arabic: ممر متلة, Hebrew: מיתלה) is a 480-metre-high (1,570 ft) pass snaking 32 kilometres (20 mi) in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, wedged between mountain ranges to the north and south. It is located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Suez. It is the monotonous ride through here and Nekhel, a wilderness that provides the shortest route between Nuweiba and Cairo.[1] Buses carrying tourists to Mount Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery, and Feiran Oasis travel through there.[2]
Wars between Israel and Egypt
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Mitla Pass is a site of major battles between the militaries of Egypt and Israel during the wars of 1956, 1967, and 1973.[3]
Mitla incident during the Suez War
[edit | edit source]During the Israeli invasion of Egypt in the Suez War of 1956 the pass was captured by the 202nd Brigade of the Israeli army, commanded by Ariel Sharon, without the approval of the Israeli leadership. Sharon faced elements of the Egyptian 2nd Brigade, which had prepared an ambush within the pass. Egyptians pinned down such famous Israelis as Mordechai Gur and Uri Dan under fire throughout the afternoon of October 31, 1956. Aharon Davidi and Rafael Eitan sent in two companies to clear Egyptians from both sides of the pass between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. that evening. The Israelis suffered 40 casualties and about 120 wounded, while the Egyptians suffered 260 casualties. Sharon was criticized for this.[3]
Yom Kippur War
[edit | edit source]During the Yom Kippur War, on October 14, 1973, the Egyptians tried to reach the pass with elements of their Fourth Armored Division, but their offensive was halted by IDF armor and air power. Figures of Egyptian tank losses vary with the source consulted. The Two O'Clock War gives the Israeli figure but the Egyptian one is lower.[3]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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Further reading
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
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