EGYPTIANS AND JEWS CONCLUDE ARGEEMENT FOR ARMISTICE IN SOUTHERN PALESTINE

Grey River Argus, 25 February 1949, Page 5

EGYPTIANS AND JEWS CONCLUDE ARGEEMENT FOR ARMISTICE IN SOUTHERN PALESTINE

(N.Z.P.A.—Reuter Cable) (Rec, 7.45) RHODES, February 24. The Jews and Egyptians to-day ended nine months of strife in Palestine, when they signed a general armistice agreement, ruling out “any warlike or hostile action” between the forces of either country.

THE AGREEMENT The agreement consists of twelve articles. The preamble states that the injunction of the U.N. Security Council against a resort to military force in the settlement of the Palestine question shall be scrupulously respected by both parties. Articles One and. Two provide that no aggressive action by land, sea or air shall be undertaken, threatened or planned against the people or armed forces of either party, and that the right of each party to its security and freedom from the fear of attack by the other shall be fully respected. Article I stresses that an armistice is an indispensable step towards a liquidation of conflict and a restoration of peace in Palestine. Article Three provides for the withdrawal of the Egyptian force in the Faluja area. The withdrawal is to be completed in five days.

Articles Five and Six designate an armistice demarcation line. Article Eight provides for the demilitarisation of the village of El Auja and the vicinity. Article Nine provides for an exchange of prisoners. Article Ten establishes a mixed Armistice Commission to carry out the provisions of the agreements. This Commission will also assume responsibility for locating missing persons, whether military or civilian, within the area controlled by each party. Article Eleven lays it down that the present agreement shall in no way prejudice the rights, claims and. positions of either party in an ultimate peaceful settlement of Palestine. Article Twelve says: The present; agreement is not subject to ratification, and it shall operate immediately upon being signed. The armistice line demarcated in Articles Five and Six provides for a corridor, including the Gaza-Rafah area, and running north from the Egyptian frontier to a point about seven miles north of Gaza. Egyptian forces must not advance beyond their present positions in this area. The Israeli forces will be withdrawn north of the demarcation line, but Israeli outposts, limited to platoon strength, may be maintained in the area at certain defined points.

POINTS OF THE AGREEMENT The Egyptian-Jewish Agreement lays it down that a demarcation line that is agreed on between the parties is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary. The line, the agreement says, “is delineated without prejudice to the rights, claims and positions of either party to the armistice as regards the ultimate settlement of the -Palestine Question”. Under the agreement, Egyptian troops will at 5 a.m. G.M.T. on Saturday begin to withdraw from their pocket at Faluja in the Negev area Of Southern Palestine, under the supervision of United Nations observers.

The provisions of the agreement are stated to be “dictated exclusively by military considerations”, and rights, claims or interests of a nonmilitary character are subject to later settlement. THE MAIN POINTS

The armistice provides: (1) for a general reduction of the troops in the Southern Negev; (2) Beersheba is to be retained by Israel, but its garrison is to be reduced to the status of an armed police force; (3) The Auja Road junction, near the Egyptian border, which was captured by Israeli forces during the last Negev campaign, is .to be evacuated; (4) the Grza-Rafah coastal strip is to remain under Egyptian civil administration, assisted by light Security Council forces; (5) the Egyptian brigade beleagured at Faluja since October is to be withdrawn with full military honours, and its heavy armament is to be impounded by the United Nations until peace is declared. The Armistice Commission is to be composed of an Israeli and an Egyptian officer, and a United Nations official. It will control the Auja crossroads. In the area of the western front under Israeli control, Israeli defensive forces only, which shall be based on the settlements, may be maintained. All other Israeli forces shall be withdrawn to a point or points north of the line provided for in the resolution of the Security Council or? November 4, 1948.' In the abea of the western front

under Egyptian control, Egyptian defensive forces only may be maintained. All other Egyptian forces shall be withdrawn to a point or points no further east than El Arish and AbueiglThe movement of armed forces of either party to the El Auja demilitarised area for any purpose, or a failure by either party to respect or fulfil any of the other provisions in this Article (Article Eight), when confirmed by United Nations representatives, shall constitute a violation of the agreement. The terms provide that all prisoners of war shall be exchanged under United Nations supervision, the exchange to begin within ten days of the signing of the agreement, and to be completed within twenty-one days. The exchange will include prisoners against, whom penal prosecution is pending, or who have been sentenced for crimes. Article Seven provides that the reduction and withdrawal of forces should applv only to the western front, and not to the eastern front, pending the conclusion of an armistice with a ‘‘third party” whose forces were in certain sectors involved. United Nations truce supervision officials will define areas comprising the western and eastern fronts only. Defensive forces shall be maintained by the two armies in the areas under their control in the eastern front area.

Article Four lays down the principle that no military or political advantage gained under the truce ordered by the Security Council is to be recognised, and that there should be no restoration of previously held military positions or changes from those now held, except as provided in the agreement. The agreement will not effect any territorial or other claims which may be asserted by either party in Palestine or in the area covered by the agreement. The Palestine' mediator, Dr. Ralph Bunche, announced that Israel had informed him that it was willing to begin armstice talks with Transjordan on February 28. Saudi Arabia and Iraq have replied to an invitation from Dr. Bunche to open armistice talks with Israel, declaring that they will accept whatever decisions are agreed on between Israel and other Aiab countries.

Jews Pleased with the Armistice

(Rec. 10.40) NEW YORK, Feb. 24 Mr Aubrey Eban, Israel, delegate to United Nations, described a successful Israeli-Egyptian armistibe negotiations as “a significant achievement for the United Nations.” He added that the agreement was an important landmark in the relations of Israel with the United Nations and the Arab world. Mr Eban said that Israel had consistently maintained that direct negotiations were the surest road to peace in the near East. He praised the part played by Dr Bunche in the armistice negotiations.

Israeli officials said that they would revive Israel’s application for membership of the United Nations- within a few day. The success of the armistice negotiations has virtually assured Israel of approval by the Security Council, which rejected an Israeli application last December in Paris, when several Council members, who were disturbed by the situation then prevailing in Palestine, refused to give their approval.

Palestine Refugees

WELLINGTON, Feb. 24

A decision to send £3OO immediately to the British Red Cross Society for the purchase of medical supplies, badly needed for refugees in the Middle East, was made to-day by the Dominion executive Of the New Zealand Red Cross Society. All centres and sub-centres will be asked to send bandages .surgical dressings and other medical supplies for the earliest possible overseas dispatch. These decisions were made as the result of a letter from Lady Limerick of the British Red Cross Society and a report from Colonel W. J. F. Craig, British Red Cross Commissioner in the Middle East.