Video: 'Yom Kippur War 1973 - Sinai Front DOCUMENTARY'

(Saturday, October 6, 1973, just before 2:00 p.m. Eastern European Time; during the Yom Kippur War,  part of the Arab–Israeli conflict, the Cold War, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict) — The Yom Kippur War, the fourth and largest Arab–Israeli conflict, began today, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, as Egyptian and Syrian forces invaded the Israeli-occupied Sinai peninsula and Golan Heights, both of which were occupied by Israel in 1967.

Video: 'Yom Kippur War 1973: Arab Israeli October War'

Egypt’s initial objective in the war was to seize a foothold on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and subsequently leverage these gains to negotiate the return of the rest of the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula.

Fighting commenced when Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed their corresponding ceasefire lines with Israel and entered the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.

Video: 'Our World Fall 1973 Part 1' (Oct. 6, 1973, at 3:16)

Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal in Operation Badr and advanced into the Sinai Peninsula; the Syrians launched a coordinated attack in the Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made gains into Israeli-held territory.

Following the outbreak of hostilities, both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, which led to a confrontation between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.