More Fighting In Middle East

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32035, 9 July 1969, Page 17

More Fighting In Middle East

(N .Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) NEW YORK, July 8. More fighting was reported from the Middle East early today—hard on the heels of a warning by the United Nations Secretary-General (U Thant) that “open fighting” in the area at present might erupt into general and intensive hostilities. In his strongest Middle East statement yet, U Thant told the Security Council in a special report yesterday that the level of fighting was now higher than at any time since the six-day war two years ago.

He appealed to all United Nations members to try to restore the cease-fire in the vital interest of the world—but reports from Tel Aviv early today said Israeli troops had killed three members of an Egyptian commando group who attacked their position on the Suez Canal. An Israeli spokesman said that Egyptian artillery had shelled the Israeli positional the northern point of Lake Timsah—for about an hour before the commando attack. In Amman, a military spokesman announced, late last night that Jordanian forces had destroyed an Israeli ammunition dump, an armoured car and a mortar position in a 55-minute clash with Israeli forces last night. He reported that there were no Jordanian casualties and said that the clash had been started by the Israelis in the Baqoura area south of Lake Tiberias.

A spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Movement (El Fatah) said in Amman that Fatah commandos had been responsible for yesterday’s explosion in the port of Eilath, on the gulf of Akqaba, yesterday. He said that fire from the explosion had spread to fuel depots and stored chemicals causing millions of dollars of damage at the Israeli port. Israelis said the explosion was caused by a drum of insecticide, which burst when it heated. Canal Crossing About 30 Israelis were killed last night when an Egyptian infantry detachment crossed the Suez Canal and attacked a large Israeli fort near Lake Timsah, an Egyptian military spokesman said today.

In a fierce man-to-man battle which lasted for five hours until 2 a.m. today, five Egyptians were either killed or wounded, the spokesman said.

Before returning to their base, the Egyptians knocked out two Israeli tanks, two armoured cars and a rocket base.

They also blew up all the fort’s rockets and equipment, the spokesman said. In Tel Aviv, an Israeli Army spokesman said today an Egyptian commando unit which had crossed the Suez Canal and tried to raid an Israeli position opposite Ismailia last night was found to have suffered nine dead.

In the light of dawn six more bodies were discovered outside the fence surrounding the post. In the Gaza Strip two small railway culverts were blown up by saboteurs during the night. Nobody was hurt and damage to the line, which has not been in use since shortly after the June war, 1967, was described as minor. U.N. Fired On United Nations military observers reported that Egyptian forces fired on United Nations installations in the Suez Canal sector last Saturday. The report from the Acting

Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Operation (U.N.T.5.0.) in the Middle East said that Egyptian forces had opened fire on three occasions in the vicinity of observation post “Red.” The post was illuminated at the time and there were no Israeli forces in the vicinity, the report said. The report quoted 10 observation posts as saying that Egyptian forces initiated the fighting in their sector on Saturday. Six put the blame on Israel. Thant’s Speech U Thant called the Middle East situation “open warfare” and gave a warning of possible “more general and intensive hostilities.”

In his strongest statement yet, he said that the level of violence was higher than at any time since the six-day war two years ago. He appealed to all United Nations members, individually and collectively, to try to restore the cease-fire “in the vital interest of the whole world.”

U Thant assessed the Middle East situation in a 1000-word special report, to the Security Council, in which he also expressed alarm about the “continuous danger” confronting United Nations military observers in the Suez Canal zone.

‘Defenceless Targets’

“They cannot be expected to serve as what amounts to defenceless targets in a shooting gallery,” he said, in

reporting that during June alone they or U.N. installations were fired on 21 times by the Egyptians and five times by the Israelis. “I feel it my duty to warn the council,” U Thant continued, “that if the United Nations military observers continue to be fired upon I will have no choice but to advise the council, after consultation with the governments providing observers, on the future course of action, including even the possibility of withdrawal of observers.”

Never in the history of United Nations peace-keeping experience, he said, had there been “such complete and sustained disregard, through the massive use of many types of conventional weapons and also by less conventional means, for a cease-fire called for by the Security Council and agreed to by the parties.”