Announcing in Commons today Anglo-French agreement to a cease-fire in Britain, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden said that he visualizes the functions of the projected United Nations police force to include; prevention of a resumption of hostilities between Israel and Egypt, securing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Sinai, resumption of traffic through the Suez Canal and promotion of a settlement of the problems of the area.
Replying to a question by Hugh Gaitskell, Opposition leader, Sir Anthony said that the British Government was certain that until an intervening force is introduced, Israel troops will not pull back for fear of further Egyptian action. He recalled that Israel had accepted the Anglo-French ultimatum to halt its drive ten miles from the Suez Canal.
“I don’t think,” he said, “that anyone can ever doubt that had they so wished the Israeli forces could have gone very much further forward than they had. It is clear to say that their acceptance of the ten-mile limit made its contribution to dividing the combatants,” he declared. Looking to the future, the Prime Minister said that a return to the system that had existed previously was “not only undesirable but impossible.”
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