Burns Sends Reports on Israel-egyptian Situation to U.N.

Gen. E. L. M. Burns, Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine, forwarded to the UN Security Council today his first report since his return to Palestine on the situation along the Israel-Egyptian border in the Gaza strip area, together with the decision yesterday of the Israel-Egyptian Mixed Armistice Commission on the 90 minute border battle near Nachal Oz last Sunday, which started with the Egyptians mining an Israel patrol car and then bombarding Nachal Oz.

Dispatch of these reports is expected to clear the way for Security Council consideration of Israel’s most recent charges of armistice violation and aggression in the border area against the Egyptian Government. Israel’s urgent request for a Council session was granted last Wednesday, on the eve of Passover, and the Security Council, after hearing the Israel delegate, adjourned until it had received a report from the MAC on the Nachal Oz incident about which Israel had complained.

The MAC decision yesterday, coming after a 12-hour session, condemned Egypt for the attack and then voted “technical censure” of Israel because the Israel troops under fire in the incident had replied with small arms and mortars. Earlier this weekend, the MAC handed down a similar double condemnation in an incident on March 30 beginning with an Egyptian attack on an Israel patrol.

BURNS TO OPEN HIGH LEVEL TALKS ON EASING TENSION

Even as Gen. Burns is expected hourly to open high level talks with Israel and Egypt to ease the tension in the Gaza border region, the press here reported that Gen. Burns had demanded that Israel remove from the Gaza border area mortars and half-tracks to prevent such Israel counter-action as last Sunday when, coming to the aid of Israel troops pinned down by Egyptian cross fire. Israel reinforcements overran an Egyptian machine gun nest with an armored half-track and responded to shelling with mortars.

Explaining the presence of mortars and half-tracks in the border zone, a military spokesman said that these weapons had been called for by the Israel patrol which had come under attack and could not extricate its wounded. The weapons were returned to their base outside the zone as soon as their task was completed.

The MAC, meanwhile, has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow to hear Israel’s charges that another Israel patrol car was mined yesterday in the Gaza area near Nirim–the eighth such incident in five weeks. An hour later an Israel military vehicle was fired on by Egyptian fire. This attack brought answering Israel artillery fire. The landmine blast killed two Israel soldiers and wounded two more, bringing total Israel casualties since March 12 to eight dead and 58 wounded.