The conflict stemmed from a deterioration in relations that had occurred between the two states after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had rebuffed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's entreaties to unify their countries and had pursued a peace settlement with Israel in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Soon thereafter Libya began sponsoring dissidents and assassination plots to undermine Sadat, and Egypt responded in kind to weaken Gaddafi.

Under significant pressure from the United States to end the attacks, and attempts from President of Algeria Houari Boumediène and Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat to mediate a solution, Sadat suddenly declared a ceasefire.

Relations between the two countries remained tense, and, though a formal agreement was never reached, both upheld a truce and gradually withdrew their forces from the border.

When Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a leading proponent of Arab nationalism, died in September 1970, his successor, Anwar Sadat, took his place in the discussions.

Though the FAR was instituted with broad goals for the consolidation of each country's militaries, laws, and foreign policies, only symbolic gestures of unity were ever adopted, such as the establishment of a common national flag.

He hoped that the combined power of Libya's finances, backed by a profitable oil-based economy, and Egypt's large population and military strength, could be used to destroy Israel.

In October 1973 Egypt and Syria, without consulting Libya, launched a co-ordinated attack on Israel, initiating the Yom Kippur War.

[2] Though an Israeli counter-attack eliminated Egyptian territorial gains in the early stages of the war, Sadat agreed to open negotiations with Israel, seeking the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for a guarantee to not engage in further attacks on the country.

[4] Gaddafi was angered by the war's limited objectives and the ceasefire, and accused Sadat of cowardice, undermining the FAR,[5] and betraying the Arab cause.

[3] Sadat responded by revealing he had intervened earlier that year to prevent Libya from sinking a civilian passenger ship carrying Jewish tourists in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Egyptian President responded by supporting subversion in Libya—including the possible extensions of encouragement to plots to assassinate Gaddafi—and backing anti-Libyan groups in neighbouring Chad.

In the summer Sadat decided to take military action against Libya's provocations, moving two mechanised divisions—totaling 25,000–35,000 troops—to the border and transferring 80 combat aircraft to Marsa Matruh Airbase, Egypt's westernmost airfield.

[14] Gaddafi organised a group of civilians to march from Libya to Cairo, the Egyptian capital, to protest Sadat's policy towards Israel in the hopes that they would be well received by the population.

[11] Having participated in the Yom Kippur War, Egyptian forces also had a fair amount of combat experience, maintained a high level of professionalism, and were led by a skilled group of generals.

However, morale among the soldiers was mixed, as some had reservations about fighting a fellow Arab nation over what seemed to be a dispute related to peace with Israel, a former enemy.

[16] The Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LARAF), led by Colonel Mahdi Saleh al-Firjani, possessed over 100 Mirages and MiG-23 fighter aircraft each, but technical problems grounded the latter.

[18] Gaddafi had also politicised the army by frequently shuffling commands and making appointments based on personal loyalty and thus the military lacked professionalism.

The unit was ambushed in the town and subjected to a well-planned counter-attack by at least one Egyptian mechanised division, which inflicted 50 percent casualties on the 9th Tank Battalion before it retreated.

[24][22] On the morning of 23 July, the LARAF launched attacks against Egypt, its Mirages flying low over the Mediterranean Sea before turning south to assault Marsa Matruh Airbase and other installations.

They managed to demolish several early-warning radar systems, damage some surface-to-air missile sites, crater the airstrip, and destroy a few armoured vehicles and 6–12 Mirages.

Commando attacks on Libyan logistics depots at Al Adm and Jaghbub caused significant damage, though a raid by Egyptian jets on Kufra Airbase had little effect.

[31] According to Arab diplomats, three Soviet military technicians who were assisting the Libyans in operating their radars were incidentally killed in the airstrikes, though they were not participating in the conflict.

[34] Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Moneim al-Houni wrote a letter to the United Nations Security Council, alleging that the Egyptians had destroyed schools and hospitals, caused significant damage to five towns, and inflicted "a great loss of life among innocent civilians".

[37] Large concentrations of troops remained stationed along the border in the immediate aftermath of the conflict, but these were eventually withdrawn, as the lack of infrastructure in the area made long-term deployments of significant forces difficult.

[26] Over the course of the border war the Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat flew between Tripoli and Cairo in an attempt to mediate its resolution.

[23] Shortly before the end of fighting the President of Algeria, Houari Boumediène, also intervened to mediate,[34] and the government of Kuwait announced it would assist.

Since the United States deemed him to be of key importance in Egypt achieving peace with Israel, its ally, they pressed him to end the fighting.

[47] To Sadat and his military commanders, the conflict revealed that Libya had amassed a substantial arsenal of materiel which had the potential to disrupt regional balances of power.

[50] Gaddafi softened his rhetoric against Egypt in the following years, but actively rallied other Arab states to isolate the country and deprecate the policies of Sadat and his successor, Hosni Mubarak.