Editing Yom Kippur War (section)

===Israel retakes the southern Golan===
[[File:October 9 Damascus Strike.jpg|thumb|The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian General Staff headquarters in [[Damascus]]]]
The tide in the Golan began to turn as arriving Israeli reserve forces were able to contain the Syrian advance. Beginning on 8 October, the Israelis began pushing the Syrians back towards the pre-war ceasefire lines, inflicting heavy tank losses.

On 9 October, the Syrians launched a counterattack north of Quneitra. As part of the operation, they attempted to land heli-borne troops in the vicinity of El Rom. The counterattack was repulsed, and four Syrian helicopters were shot down with total loss of life.<ref>''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 9 October 1973 issue, p. 2</ref> Syrian [[FROG-7]] [[artillery rocket]]s struck the Israeli Air Force base of [[Ramat David Airbase|Ramat David]], killing a pilot and injuring several soldiers. Additional missiles struck civilian settlements. In retaliation, seven Israeli F-4 Phantoms flew into Syria and [[1973 Syrian General Staff Headquarters Raid|struck the Syrian General Staff Headquarters]] in Damascus. One Israeli Phantom was shot down.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.iaf.org.il/971-16606-he/IAF.aspx|last=Barkat|first=Liad|journal=Israeli Air Force Magazine|language=Hebrew|title=Yaakobi's Box|date=February 1, 1998|issue=119}}</ref> The attack prompted the Syrians to transfer air defense units from the Golan Heights to the home front, allowing the IAF greater freedom of action.<ref name="historynet golan" />

By 10 October, the last Syrian unit in the central sector was pushed back across the [[Purple Line (ceasefire line)|Purple Line]], the pre-war ceasefire line. After four days of intense and incessant combat, the Israelis had succeeded in ejecting the Syrians from the entire Golan.<ref name="historynet golan" />