50 free Six-Day War trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Six-Day War of 5–10 June 1967 began with an Israeli air strike that destroyed most of Egypt's air force on the ground within hours and ended with Israel holding the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. It followed weeks of escalation after Gamal Abdel Nasser expelled UN peacekeepers and closed the Straits of Tiran, and it reshaped the Middle East: Nasser resigned and was reinstated by protests, the Suez Canal shut for eight years, and UN Resolution 242 set out the 'land for peace' formula that still frames negotiations. This quiz covers the build-up and the false Soviet warning, Operation Focus and the four-sorties-a-day ground crews, Tal, Sharon and Yoffe in the Sinai, the 6,000-shell barrage at Um-Katef, King Hussein's 'the die was cast', Ammunition Hill and Mordechai Gur's paratroopers at the Old City, Dayan's unauthorised order to take the Golan, Damascus Radio's premature surrender of Quneitra, the USS Liberty attack, the Khartoum 'three no's' and the peace treaties that followed. Fifty questions, four options each, with a short explanation after every answer. Play on your phone or print it for a history quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which dates in 1967 was the Six-Day War fought?
5–10 June
Egypt and Jordan accepted a ceasefire on 8 June, Syria on 9 June, and it was signed with Israel on 11 June.
Q 02From which country did Israel capture the Golan Heights in 1967?
Syria
Syria joined the fighting on the fifth day by shelling Israeli positions in the north.
Q 03The Gaza Strip was captured in 1967 from which country?
Egypt
Egypt also lost the Sinai Peninsula; Jordan lost the West Bank including East Jerusalem.
Q 04Nasser's closure of which waterway in May 1967 did Israel regard as a casus belli?
Straits of Tiran
The straits give access to Eilat; Lyndon Johnson later called the closure the single act of folly most responsible for the war.
Q 05What was the codename of Israel's opening air strike on 5 June 1967?
Operation Focus
In Hebrew it was Moked; all but 12 of nearly 200 operational jets took part.
Q 06Which Egyptian president ordered the UN Emergency Force out of Sinai in May 1967?
Gamal Abdel Nasser
He resigned in shame after the defeat but was reinstated after protests across Egypt.
Q 07Roughly how many Arab fatalities did the war cause, against fewer than 1,000 Israeli?
Over 15,000
Twenty Israeli civilians died in air strikes on Jerusalem and 15 UN peacekeepers were killed in the Sinai.
Q 08How many US personnel died when Israeli forces mistakenly attacked the USS Liberty?
34
The electronic intelligence ship was 13 nautical miles off Arish; Israel apologised and paid compensation.
Q 09Israel said it had mistaken the USS Liberty for which Egyptian vessel?
El Quseir
The attack killed 34 sailors and wounded 171; compensation was paid to victims and to the US.
Q 10For how many years did Egypt close the Suez Canal after the war?
Eight (1967–1975)
Ships trapped inside became known as the Yellow Fleet; the canal reopened in 1975.
Q 11Which country fed Nasser false reports in May 1967 that Israel was massing on the Syrian border?
The Soviet Union
Nasser began moving troops into the Sinai on 16 May and expelled UNEF three days later.
Q 12King Hussein mocked Nasser for 'hiding behind UNEF skirts' after an Israeli raid on which village?
As-Samu
The November 1966 raid answered a PLO mine attack that killed three.
Q 13Jordan signed a defence pact with Egypt on which date, a week before the war?
30 May
Iraq agreed the next day to send troops and armour into Jordan.
Israeli crews could turn a jet around for how many sorties a day, against one or two for Arabs?
Q 21Which Egyptian airfield's runway was deliberately spared so Israel could use it after the war?
Arish
The Israelis used tarmac-shredding penetration bombs, developed with France, on the others.
Q 22Which Israeli general's division assaulted the 'Rafah Gap' on the first morning?
Tal
His lead brigade reached the Khan Yunis railway junction in a little over four hours.
Q 23Ariel Sharon's division assaulted which heavily fortified Sinai position on 6 June?
Um-Katef
Israeli guns fired some 6,000 shells in under 20 minutes, the most concentrated barrage in Israel's history.
Up to four
The tempo let the IAF send wave after wave at Egyptian airfields and fuelled Arab beliefs that foreign air forces had helped.
Q 15Israel's own pre-war estimate of how long victory would take was what, versus the US's 7–10?
3–4 days
British estimates backed the American view.
Q 16Jordan's small air force flew 24 of which British-made fighter?
Hawker Hunter
Israelis rated it roughly on par with their best plane, the French Mirage III.
Q 17Volunteer pilots from which country's air force flew for the Arab side and shot down Israeli planes?
Pakistan
Saiful Azam was the best-known of them; Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia sent aircraft.
Q 18Israel's 1967 air force was composed principally of aircraft from which country?
France
Its armour was mostly British and American; the Uzi submachine gun was home-grown.
Q 19Which 30 Egyptian bombers worried Israel most before the war, and were all destroyed on day one?
Tu-16 Badgers
In total 338 Egyptian aircraft were destroyed and 100 pilots killed, for 19 Israeli planes lost.
Q 20Egypt shut down its air defences on 5 June fearing rebels would shoot down a plane carrying whom?
Field Marshal Amer
Abdel Hakim Amer was flying to the Sinai; the Israelis came in below radar cover anyway.
Q 24At Um-Katef, Israeli battalions each lit flashlights of a different colour to prevent what?
Friendly fire
Half of Danny Matt's helicopters still got lost and never found the battlefield.
Q 25Which Israeli defence minister had forbidden entry into the Gaza Strip, an order Rabin overrode?
Moshe Dayan
Rabin sent in the 11th Mechanized Brigade after Palestinian positions fired on Negev settlements.
Q 26Who was IDF Chief of Staff during the war?
Yitzhak Rabin
He overrode Dayan on Gaza and judged a direct landing at Sharm el-Sheikh too risky.
Q 27Hearing Abu-Ageila had fallen, which Egyptian field marshal ordered a general retreat from Sinai?
Abdel Hakim Amer
No detailed instructions were given on how to withdraw, and the order effectively meant Egypt's defeat.
Q 28Which Israeli prime minister promised King Hussein he would not attack if Jordan stayed out?
Levi Eshkol
The message went via UN General Odd Bull; Hussein replied that 'the die was cast'.
Q 29How did King Hussein reply to Israel's offer to leave Jordan alone on 5 June?
'The die was cast'
Jordanian howitzers then began a 6,000-shell barrage on Israeli Jerusalem.
Q 30Which Egyptian general arrived in Amman on 1 June to take control of the Jordanian military?
Abdul Munim Riad
On 6 June he relayed Hussein's two choices to Cairo: a political ceasefire or vacating the West Bank that night.