The Yom Kippur War (also known as the Ramadan War and the October War) was a war between Israel and a group of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria. The war took place from October 6-24, 1973. The war began on the Jewish day of repentance of Yom Kippur in 1973, and it happened during the Muslim month of Ramadan. The attack by Egypt and Syria was a surprise to Israel after Israel conquered the Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights from Egypt in 1967. Egypt's army entered the Sinai Peninsula to retrieve their land from Israel.