Operation Kiton 10 – the armored raid against the Syrian defensive line in the Golan Heights, June 26, 1970
Operation Kiton 10 was waged during the War of Attrition in the Golan Heights (03/08/1969 – 08/08/1970), and was among the biggest of its kind then.
Since the beginning of 1970, hostile activities of the Syrian army and the PLO increased on Israel's northern border. The Syrian initiative increased between May 16 and June 16, reaching its peak on June 24, 1970. Around 17:30 the Syrian forces began shelling IDF positions all along the border, while attacking to IDF posts near Buq'ata with a combined armored and mechanized force.
In response, on June 25, the IDF attacked the Syrian position all along the border with tanks, artillery and aircraft, and on the morrow an armored force crossed beyond the border. The Syrians, regarding the skirmishes as more intense than the Six Day War, call the incident the "Three Day War," going so far as decorating all participants on their side with a special badge.
The IDF's main objective was to make it clear to the Syrians that any provocation on their side will result in a fierce Israeli response, thus pacifying the Syrian border.
"Kiton 10" was the largest raid on the Syrian posts, carried out by a combined force of armored, artillery, engineering, and Air Force troops. Due to the quick occupation of the Syrian first line positions, high mobility, and the repelling of a Syrian counterattack, the enemy was hardly hit, and Syrian artillery fire on the Golan Heights stopped.