The total force of the division was about 10,000 men, 200 tanks, 72 artillery pieces, 72 anti-aircraft guns and surface to air missiles (SAMs).

The 7th Brigade was assigned as a reserve force around Naffakh and was to prepare for a counterattack in either the north or south sector, or to split and support both.

[7] As part of his usual strategy, Ben-Gal decided to maintain a reserve force and began building a third battalion.

Ben Shoham ordered his battalion commanders, Nafshi and Oded Erez, to deploy their nearly 70 Centurion tanks in prepared battle positions.

[11] The Syrian 85th Infantry Brigade assault column reached the Israeli anti-tank ditch before its officers noticed that the engineers were not in the vanguard.

During the afternoon the Israelis destroyed most of the Syrian bridging tanks within sight, putting them out of action with shots fired at a range of 1.8 km (2,000 yd).

The Moroccans continued to fire at Tel Shaeta but did not advance, and the Syrian battalion was stopped when its leading vehicles were destroyed on the roadway.

Sela, accompanied by one other Centurion, opened fire at the rear of the Syrian force and destroyed them at a range of 200 to 300 meters.

[15] Two Syrian tanks attempted to cross the open ground to the anti-tank ditch in the unguarded area south of Nissim's sector.

[16] As darkness fell, Nafshi ordered one company to move forward towards the Syrian bridges across the ditch to destroy the tanks that had crossed.

[clarification needed] Avigdor Kahalani's 77th Battalion, which was familiar with the terrain after having worked there for a week, was returned to the 7th Brigade.

He was behind schedule, but expected to make up for it if the 78th Brigade could reach and secure the Kuneitra-Mas'ade Road, four and a half kilometres west of its starting line.

Captain Yair Swet, a 77th Battalion company commander, was ordered to move to Booster, losing two tanks.

A Syrian anti-tank unit tried to advance down the Bnot Yaakov Road, in front of Bunker 107, not knowing it was occupied.

[22] On the dawn of 7 October, the area between Hermonit and Booster was named "Valley of Tears" because of the great number of burning tanks lying across it.

Shaham was killed just before 13:00, a short time before the Syrians withdrew[26] The 77th Battalion was moved from south of Kuneitra to the central sector at Hermonit.

[27] The 7th Brigade lost three company commanders in the morning fighting, and over a dozen tanks were damaged or destroyed, none of which were replaced.

Late in the day, Ben-Gal met with Kahalani and Eldar, who was wounded, on the southern slope of Booster to review the events.

The 7th Division was joined by the 64th and 66th Field Artillery Regiments with the 81st Brigade, led by T-62 tanks, which were turned over from the General Headquarters to allow Abrash to mount a new offensive around the Tapline-Wassett crossroads in the north-central Golan.

Given the small size of his force, Nafshi's position was vulnerable when faced with this heavy attack, and his tank's turret was damaged.

On the brigade's southern flank, Zamir's company fought an armoured force that had entered the area during the night.

In the afternoon, three individual Syrian tank battalion concentrations with armoured infantry tried to break through in the Hermonit area.

Ben-Gal decided to create a reserve of five tanks under the command of his operations officer, whom he ordered to move back about half a kilometre away and prepare to block a Syrian breakthrough.

He teamed with Erez, who had escaped from Tel Faris on Monday morning, and Shmuel Askarov, the 53rd Battalion's deputy commander, to start repairing tanks.

[36] At 18:00, he reported to his division commander, General Rafael Eitan that he was ready to bring forward the thirteen Centurions he had repaired thus far, and was ordered to head for Naffakh.

Ben-Gal ordered his force to leave the high ramps and withdraw some 360 m (390 yd) to escape the artillery concentrations.

All the forces in the central sector, down to only about fifteen tanks, were at this point under Kahalani's command, fighting at ranges of 230–460 m (250–500 yd) from their original positions on the ramps.

If the 7th Division were to break through, it could join the infantry force and proceed to Dan and Kiryat Shmona, inside Israel.

[47] Dennie Agmon, Eitan's intelligence officer, told him that the Syrian General Staff had decided to retreat.

[53] In 2002, Kenneth Pollack wrote that the Syrian forces did not look for an alternative axis of advance and rolled forward without defending their flanks.