In the Yom Kippur War, Egypt attacked Israel from the south.
The conflict began on October 6, 1973, when Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal into the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria launched a simultaneous attack from the north across the Golan Heights. Egypt and Syria coordinated the opening offensive, but they fought on separate fronts.
Egypt’s initial operation, commonly called Operation Badr, used a large infantry assault and engineering effort to breach Israeli defenses along the canal. Egyptian troops established bridgeheads on the eastern bank and overran sections of the Bar Lev Line. The attack was intended to recover the Sinai and pressure Israel into negotiations.
Iraq later sent forces to support the Arab side, while Jordan contributed a small number of troops, but neither country was the southern attacker at the war’s opening. Syria was the northern attacker, making Egypt the clear answer when the question distinguishes the two main fronts.
The war ended after ceasefires in October 1973. Its diplomatic consequences included the Camp David Accords and Egypt-Israel peace treaty, after which Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.