[1] [2] The Syrians made skillful use of their Gazelle helicopters to support the delaying action, firing HOT missiles into the long columns of Israeli vehicles stretched out along the roads.

At dawn, the Israelis broke out and escaped to the south with the support of 11 battalions of artillery firing both at the Syrians and in a box barrage around their own troops.

[3][2] Five IDF soldiers were missing in action: Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman, Ariel Lieberman, and Hezi Shai.

[7] Two and a half years later, his whereabouts were discovered in Damascus, where he was being held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), a pro-Syria Palestinian militant organization led by Ahmed Jibril.

[8] Shai's repatriation was negotiated together with that of two other captured Israeli soldiers, Yosef Grof and Nissim Salem, through mediator and Austrian diplomat Dr. Herbert Amry, in return for 1,150 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners being held by Israel.