Israel Now In Possession Of 45 Per Cent Of Palestine; U.N. Truce Supervision Gone

Wanganui Chronicle, 7 January 1949, Page 5

Israel Now In Possession Of 45 Per Cent Of Palestine; U.N. Truce Supervision Gone

LONDON, Jan. 6 (Hoe. 6 pm).—Political leaders believe that in destroying the Egyptian Army’s ability to wage effective war in the Negev. Israel has also destroyed the United Nations truce supervision machinery, says “The Times” Tel Aviv correspondent.

It is believed that to attempt to reinforce its bedraggled authority would spell doom for any future, effort to solve the remaining problem, namely, the future of Arab-held areas in Palestine.

Israel, in the short campaign, has pushed its frontiers beyond those the General Assembly agreed upon on November 29, 1947 ;also the boundaries Count Bernadotte suggested. Israel now firmly holds the whole of Galilee and all the Negev—4s percent. of Palestine—except for the small Egyptian pockets in the Faluja and Gaza areas. This land is rapidly being settled upon, and rapidly developed by Kibbutzniks—armed farm-

ers whose agricultural efficiency is backed by modern research aYid American dollars, and whose fanaticism has been previously unsurpassed. These are accomplishments which will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

“The Times" diplomatic correspondent says official quarters in London neither confirm nor deny the Israeli Government's statement regarding British troop movements to Transjordan and in Egypt. This means, presumably, that the statement is inaccurate only in detail. It would not be surprising if the British Government was taking preliminary measures to enable them to fulfil treaty obligations for the defence of both these countries, if that should become necessary.