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U.n.-escorted Convoy Reaches Faluja; Begins Evacuating Sick and Wounded Egyptians

January 21, 1949
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An Egyptian medical convoy under U.N. auspices today reached Faluja after a six-hour trip from Gaza and immediately began evacuating Egyptian wounded and sick soldiers, it was announced here.

The convoy, consisting of two trucks and 20 ambulances, was searched thoroughly by U.N. and Israeli officers before it was permitted to pass through the Israeli lines. Each vehicle carried a U.N. driver and a U.N. observer. The chief reason for the lengthy duration of the journey was the bad state of the roads. Food and medical supplies were brought into Faluja by the trucks.

It is estimated that a total of about 250 Egyptians will be removed from the Faluja trap. They will leave with full military honors, carrying their side arms. The troops to be evacuated will be chosen by members of a U.N. medical team which arrived with the convoy.

A relief convoy was today scheduled to leave the Jewish lines in Jerusalem and proceed through no-man’s land and the Arab positions to Mb. Scopus with supplies and personnel for the police unit at the Hadassah Hospital and the Hebrew University and with a group of administrative personnel for the two institutions. Yesterday a special truck vas passed through the lines to obtain a number of books- from the University’s library for use at the temporary headquarters of Israel’s leading educational institution.

Three members of the U.N. Secretariat yesterday arrived in Jerusalem to arrange for office space and living quarters for the members of the U.N. Conciliation commission and its staff. They inspected both the former British Government House and the King David Hotel’s facilities and it is expected that they will recommend the latter.

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