Arab Delegations at U. N. Mark Unef Anniversary by Assailing Israel

The Arab governments and their United Nations delegations marked the anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Emergency Force today by a series of steps which directly or indirectly, were aimed at Israel.

The Saudi Arabian delegation this morning sent a letter to Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold and Hashim Jawad of Iraq, this month’s president of the Security Council again accusing Israel of violating Saudi Arabian sovereignty in the Gali of Arabia area in this letter–the sixth in the last few months–Saudi Arabia alleged that Israeli military aircraft “repeatedly circulated” at low altitude on the evening of October 28, over Saudi Arabian military positions, and attempted to land on an air strip near Jabal Al Hinafi.

The letter stated that the ‘Saudi Arabian Government in bringing this provocative incident to the attention of the United Nations stresses the gravity of such provocative acts, and the dangers of the consequences inherent in them and in the repeated violations by the Israeli authorities of Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity.”

As in previous letters Saudi Arabia threatened once more that it would “undertake the necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of its interests.

Jordan, meanwhile, was pressing Mr. Jawad, who is not unfriendly to the Amman government, to act “urgently” and call a meeting of the Security Council which would again take up the Jordanian complaint alleging that an Israeli afforestation project in no-man’s land, south of Jerusalem constituted a military threat. One meeting on this issue was held by the Council two months ago, and a report was received from Col Byron V Leary, acting chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, who had looked into the situation on behalf of the Council.

ANTICIPATE SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON JORDAN COMPLAINT

Mr. Jawad was expected here to call the Council into session on the Jordanian grievance next week. Col. Leary is in this country now, on personal business, but United Nations sources were not certain that he would be asked to stay on to attend the scheduled Council meeting. There were reports here today that Israel had halted the afforestation project in deference to Security Council feelings against it as expressed here two months ago.

Meanwhile Syria was accusing Israel, along with Turkey of launching “new aggressions.” According to a statement issued in Damascus, and reported here Syria claimed that its armed forces fought a 40-minute “battle” against Israeli troops yesterday after an alleged Israeli attack near the fortified border village of Al Tawfik.

At the same time, Egypt was making difficulties for UNEF on the anniversary of the creation of that Force. The Cairo government is once more insisting, as it has in the past, that the UN pay rent on land occupied along the Gaza Strip frontier by UNEF border patrols. One authoritative source here commented on that demand. It is strange that Egypt wants UNEF to pay for protecting the very Arabs along the border for whom UNEF has been acting as a shield against possible Israel attacks.”