Atlas of Battles

battle, major, Cold War

Battle of Karameh

Battle of Karameh was a battle fought on 21 March 1968 at Karameh, in what is now Jordan. It was part of the War of Attrition, which ran from 1967 to 1970.

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Al Karama Battle Aftermath 21 March 1968
Al Karama Battle Aftermath 21 March 1968. Jordanian Military Photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought21 March 1968
WhereKarameh, Jordan31.950N, 35.580E
OutcomeBoth sides claim victory; Destruction of Karameh camp; Israel fails to capture Yasser Arafat; Israeli withdrawal from Karameh; repulsed in other axes
BelligerentsIsraelagainstJordan; Palestine Liberation Organization; Fatah; 21px PLA
Part ofWar of Attrition1967 to 1970

Record

Date21 March 1968
PlaceKarameh, Jordan
31.950N, 35.580E
KindBattle, Cold War
StrengthAbout 15,000; 47 tanks; (1 armored brigade; 1 infantry brigade; 1 paratroop battalion; 1 engineering battalion; 5 artillery battalions)2nd armored division; (10 artillery batteries; 4 brigades; 1 Patton tank battalion); 900–1000 fighters
Casualties and lossesIsrael: 28– 33 dead; 69 – 161 wounded; 27 tanks damaged, 4 left behind; 2 APCs; 2 vehicles; 1 aircraftJordan: 40–84 dead; 108– 250 wounded; 4 captured; 28 tanks damaged, 2 captured; PLO: 156 dead; ~100 wounded; 141 captured; 175 buildings destroyed
Commanders
  • Levi Eshkol
  • Uzi Narkiss
  • Moshe Dayan
  • Haim Bar-Lev
  • Israel Tal
  • Shmuel Gonen
  • King Hussein
  • Amer Khammash
  • Mashour Haditha
  • Asad Ghanma
  • Yasser Arafat
  • Abu Iyad
Battle of KaramehBattle of KaramehBattle of HijlaCapture of Jisr ed DamiehSecond Battle of AmmanFirst Transjordan attack on AmmanFirst Battle of AmmanBattle of HijlaCapture of Jisr ed DamiehTel AvivGaza CityHaifaNablusEl ArishNazarethAl KarakAs Suwayda100 km31.950N, 35.580E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Karameh
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Karameh today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about -260 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -379 to 302 m, 681 m of relief, steep country and today it is 38% bare ground, 27% cropland, 17% tree cover.

bare ground: 38%cropland: 27%tree cover: 17%grassland: 12%built-up: 7%bare ground 38%cropland 27%tree cover 17%grassland 12%built-up 7%
west to east, 10.0 km-375 to 70 mnorth to south, 10.0 km-290 to -255 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1968

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: IS GONEN TASK FORCEDefender: JOR 1ST INF DIV
Strength11,94016,168
Casualties201 (1.7%)497 (3.1%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1066
Outcomedrawn
Duration1 day
Front width5 km5 km
Attacker advanced0 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 568), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Karameh is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 24 in present-day Jordan.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1930278, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Karameh, revision 1374545421, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.