A dawn raid by Egyptian forces on a lonely Israel control point along the demilitarized zone border at Nitzana left one Israeli dead, three wounded and two kidnaped today as the Israel-Egyptian border flared into new violence while United Nations truce chief Maj. Gen, E. L. M. Burns was in New York reporting to the United Nations.
The Egyptian force swooped down on the post at Beerotayim just as dawn broke this morning and overwhelmed the tiny garrison. Counteraction by Israel forces caused the Egyptians to abandon the post. Israel immediately protested the violation of the armistice agreement and the special truce worked out in the Nitzana zone by Gen. Burns several weeks ago. It called upon the truce organization to order the Egyptians out of the control post. The incident was preceded last night by some minor firing in the zone by the Egyptian forces.
A communique issued by the UN Truce Organization here this afternoon failed to state that Egyptian troops had opened fire and had violated Israel territory.
The communique reported that the UN observers found Egyptian troops inside the demilitarized zone and called on them to leave, but an hour later the Israelis again complained of a new Egyptian advance in the direction of their post. The communique concluded with the statement that the observers were attempting to prevent further incidents.
An Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman, detailing the events at Beerotayim, called the affair a “calculated violation” of the armistice pact and recalled that before Gen. Burns left for New York he asked both Israel and Egypt to avoid incidents at Nitzana and both responded favorably. But only 48 hours after the truce chief had left, the Egyptian armed forces launched this “unprovoked attack with the deliberate intention of maintaining and aggravating an inflammatory situation.”
Along the Syrian frontier two incidents were reported, one yesterday and one today. There were no casualties.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
