The Israeli air raids were described as a preemptive, or first, strike against the Egyptians. This surprise attack was against the Egyptian airfields. The Egyptians had 50 runways and about 960 attack aircraft, while the Israelis had 300 attack craft. Israel attacked while Egypt's planes were still on the ground. In three hours nearly the entire Egyptian air force was wiped out. This surprised the Egyptians, and Israel went on to attack on the ground. Israel was then attacked by Syria and Jordan and defeated them both. 