The document discusses the history of conflict between Egypt and Israel over control of the Suez Canal from 1949 to 1973. It describes how Egypt repeatedly closed the canal to Israeli shipping prior to 1967 and blocked it completely after regaining control of the Sinai Peninsula during the Six Day War. The blockade lasted 8 years and trapped 15 cargo ships in the canal until it reopened in 1975. Fighting continued along the canal during the War of Attrition from 1969-1970 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when Egypt launched an operation to cross the canal into the Sinai.