The War of Attrition, a limited war fought between the Israeli military and forces of the Egyptian Republic, the USSR and the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1967 to 1970, is initiated by the Egyptians as a way of forcing the Israelis to negotiate on favorable terms the return of the Sinai from the Israelis, who have been in control of the territory since the mid-1967 Six-Day War.

This objective is not realized, however, and instead the hostilities end with a ceasefire signed between the countries in 1970 with frontiers remaining in the same place as when the war began, with no real commitment to serious peace negotiations.