{{Short description|Short-lived invasion during Black September}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Syrian invasion of Jordan | place = Northern [[Jordan]] | image = T-54 tank of the Syrian army during Syrian invasion of Jordan.jpg | caption = T-54 tank of the Syrian army during invasion. | date = 18–23 September 1970 | partof = [[Black September]] and the [[Arab Cold War]] | result = Jordanian victory *Syrian invasion repelled | combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Syria_(1963–1972).svg}} [[Ba'athist Syria]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Palestine - short triangle.svg}} [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]]{{bulletedlist | {{flagicon image|Simplified Fatah flag.jpg|size=22px}} [[Fatah]] | {{flagicon|Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine}} [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine|PFLP]] | {{flagicon|Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine}} [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine|DFLP]]}} | combatant2 = {{flag|Jordan}} | strength1 = 16,000 troops<br>250–300 tanks and armoured vehicles | strength2 = 65,000–74,000 troops<br>500 tanks and armoured vehicles | casualties2 = '''Jordanian claim:''' <br>112 casualties <br>16 tanks and 1 armored car destroyed<ref name=":0" /> | casualties1 = '''Jordanian claim:''' <br>1500 casualties <br>135 tanks lost <ref name=":0" /> <br>'''Israeli claim:''' <br>120 tanks lost of which 30-60 mechanical breakdowns<ref name=":0" /> | commander1 = {{flagicon|Ba'athist Syria|1963}} [[Nureddin al-Atassi]]<br>{{flagicon|Ba'athist Syria|1963}} [[Salah Jadid]]<br>{{flagicon|Palestine}} [[Yasser Arafat]] | commander2 = {{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Hussein of Jordan|Hussein]]<br>{{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Habis Majali]]<br>{{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Zeid bin Shaker]] | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Black September}} }}
The '''Syrian invasion of Jordan''' began on 18 September 1970 in support of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) amid [[Black September]]. [[Ba'athist Syria|Syria]] conducted a short-lived incursion toward [[Irbid]] in northern Jordan, before being forced to withdraw due to heavy casualties.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=A. Mobley |first=Richard |date=2009 |title=Syria's 1970 invasion of Jordan |url=http://intelros.ru/pdf/jfq_55/25.pdf |journal=U.S. Joint Military Contributions to Countering}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryan |first=Curtis R. |date=2006 |title=The Odd Couple: Ending the Jordanian-Syrian "Cold War" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4330215 |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=33–56 |doi=10.3751/60.1.12 |jstor=4330215 |issn=0026-3141}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1976 |title=Behind the Syrian Invasion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4364815 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=11 |issue=30 |pages=1107–1112 |jstor=4364815 |issn=0012-9976}}</ref> Syria's supposed aim was to help the [[Palestinian fedayeen]] overthrow the [[Hashemites|Hashemite monarchy]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Shlaim |first=Avi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JtrCoUf7wCsC |title=Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace |date=2009-10-06 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4000-7828-8 |pages=326 |language=en}}</ref>
== Background == [[File:Map of Fedayeen concentrations in Jordan in 1970.png|left|thumb|Map of Fedayeen concentrations in Jordan in 1970]] On 17 September 1970, the Jordanian army surrounded several cities with a significant PLO presence and began targeting Palestinian fedayeen, viewing them as a threat to the Hashemite monarchy of [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]]. Syria publicly threatened King Hussein, with Syrian president [[Nureddin al-Atassi]] stating that Syria would "spare no blood" to help the Palestinians. The [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (Syria)|Syrian foreign ministry]] warned that the "Syrian revolution cannot remain silent or idle about the massacres to which the Palestine revolution groups and the masses in Jordan are being exposed."<ref name=":0" /> The Syrian invasion expressed the ruling [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party]]'s stance against "the reactionary regime" in Jordan and its desire to overthrow it. The Syrian Ba'ath Party adopted strongman [[Salah Jadid]]'s policy of pushing for military intervention against Jordan on 17 September 1970.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shemesh |first=Moshe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKwsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA144 |title=The Palestinian Entity 1959-1974: Arab Politics and the PLO |date=2012-11-12 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-28512-7 |pages=144 |language=en}}</ref>
The [[United States]], seeing the Syrian incursion through the lens of [[Cold War]] politics, prepared to intervene on behalf of Jordan and block [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] support for Syria.<ref name=":0" />
== Invasion == [[File:Jordanian_soldiers_surrounding_Syrian_tank,_17_September_1970.png|thumb|Jordanian soldiers surrounding a [[Centurion (tank)|Centurion tank]] in [[Irbid]] to face off the Syrian invasion, 17 September 1970]] On 18 September 1970, a force from Syria with [[Palestine Liberation Army]] markings crossed the border into Jordan, reaching Irbid and declaring it a "liberated" city. The 40th Armored Brigade managed to block the Syrian advance after heavy fighting.<ref name=":1" /> A second and much larger Syrian incursion took place on the same day, consisting of two armored and one mechanized infantry brigade of the [[5th Armoured Division (Syria)|5th Infantry Division]], and around 300 tanks.<ref name=":1" />
On 20 September 1970, Syria committed 16,000 troops and more than 170 [[T-54/T-55|T-55]] tanks and other armoured vehicles to invade Jordan, but declined to commit its air force. Jordanian forces managed to repel two Syrian armored offensives and inflicted heavy losses on a Syrian armored brigade. Syrian tanks crossed near [[Ar-Ramtha|Ramtha]], advancing 5 miles past it, and slowly moved toward Irbid.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=A. Mobley |first=Richard |date=2009 |title=Syria's 1970 invasion of Jordan |url=http://intelros.ru/pdf/jfq_55/25.pdf |journal=U.S. Joint Military Contributions to Countering}}</ref>
By the morning of 21 September, Syria had the battleground advantage, with almost 300 tanks and 60 artillery tubes near Ramtha and Irbid, some of which had already entered Irbid. Syrian forces later captured two key crossroads that served as gateways to the Jordanian capital, [[Amman]].<ref name=":2" />
By 22 September, however, the Syrian forces had been largely defeated as they attempted to breach Jordanian lines north of the [[Ajloun]] mountains. Syrian forces suffered due to Jordanian airstrikes, logistic shortfalls, and mechanical breakdowns. By midday, approximately 50 of 200 Syrian tanks became inoperable. Syrian forces began withdrawing from Jordan on the night of 22–23 September 1970.<ref name=":2" />
==Casualties== During the invasion, Syrian tanks inflicted heavy losses on the [[Royal Jordanian Army|Jordanian army]]. In one case, a squadron of T-55s stopped the advance of a large Jordanian column, with 19 [[Centurion (tank)|Centurions]] destroyed and up to 10 Syrian T-55s lost in the battle.<ref name=":3">''Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991'', Kenneth Michael Pollack, Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2002, pp. 337–341</ref> According to [[Mossad|Israeli intelligence]], Jordan lost 75 to 90 tanks out of 200 involved;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXIV. P.912 |url=https://www.2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/113360.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811100748/https://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/113360.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2019 |access-date=10 August 2019}}</ref> most of these were destroyed by Syrian T-55s at ar-Ramtha.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pollack |first=Kenneth Michael |title=Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 |date=2002 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-80323-733-9 |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |pages=337–345}}</ref> Syrian tank losses amounted to 62 T-55s (mostly breakdowns) left in Jordanian territory.<ref>Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948—1991. Kenneth Michael Pollack. U of Nebraska Press. 2002. P.478</ref> Syrian losses were 150 soldiers killed or wounded and 200 captured.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raab |first=David |title=Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings. |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2007 |page=200}}</ref> Jordanian losses were 537 soldiers killed and 1500 wounded.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-19 |title=شهداء الواجب |url=https://www.jaf.mil.jo/Contents/Martyr_of_Dutyar.aspx |access-date=2025-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019145334/https://www.jaf.mil.jo/Contents/Martyr_of_Dutyar.aspx |archive-date=19 October 2017 }}</ref><ref name=":3" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Black September]] [[Category:1970 in international relations]] [[Category:1970 in Jordan]] [[Category:Cold War conflicts]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1970]] [[Category:Jordan–Syria relations]] [[Category:Military operations involving the Palestine Liberation Organization]] [[Category:Wars involving Jordan]] [[Category:Wars involving Palestinians]] [[Category:Wars involving Syria]] [[Category:Invasions by Syria]]