Battle of al-Karama (Jordan)
March 21, 1968
22 Mar 1968, Amman, Jordan --- Jordan's King Hussein (wearing dark beret) stands on a tank which, according to Jordanian sources, was left behind by Israeli forces at the frontier following the March 21st attack. The Jordanian military command said 45 Israeli tanks were destroyed and five fighter planes shot down before the Israelis withdrew across the Jordan River after the attack against Arab saboteur bases. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
Following the 1967 Six Day War, Israeli forces invade Jordan at the Jordanian town of al-Karama in an attempt to wipe out the Palestinian resistance group Fatah. The battle is considered a key moment in the development of the Palestinian resistance movement, with the Israeli army taking major losses and withdrawing after fifteen hours. Combined forces of Jordanian and Palestinian resistance fighters defended against the invasion. Al-Karama was located just a few km away from the ceasefire line after the 1967 war when Israel occupied the West Bank, and was an important base for Palestinian fighters (fedayeen) from Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين (PFLP), and other smaller organizations. In a war mostly fought using guerilla tactics due to the Israeli Army having vastly more powerful resources, this battle also stands out as one in which the Jordanian and Palestinians saw the build up of Israeli forces before the attack and decided to stay and fight a more traditional battle. Although the Israeli army did destroy the Fatah base, their heavy losses and retreat were a major morale boost across the Arab world and led to an increase in support for the fedayeen, and Fatah in particular, launching it into the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) the following year.