Collapse of Egyptian Sinai Forces Announced; 30,000 Troops Cut off

The general collapse of Egyptian forces in the Sinai Peninsula was officially announced by military headquarters here this evening. The capture of large quantities of booty including Soviet-manufactured tanks was also announced.

Even as army headquarters announced the destruction of the Egyptian army as an organized force in the Sinai Desert, the Israel radio was calling on two divisions of Egyptian troops encircled in central Sinai to “lay down your arms and save your lives.” An estimated 30,000 troops together with artillery, tanks and transport were believed cut off. These two divisions were once the pride of the Egyptian Army, the largest and most powerful of the Arab states.

The hammer-like blows of the rapidly advancing Israeli units were greatly aided by complete mastery of the air. For most of the day, after the Anglo-French bombings last night and today of Egyptian military airfields, there were no Egyptian planes to be seen. Only toward the end of the day did a few Egyptian aircraft appear to offer momentary challenge to Israeli planes flying cover over the Sinai operations.

On their westward run toward the Suez Canal the Israeli forces engaged in a number of small but fierce tank battles. Both Egyptian tanks and motorized supply convoys were pounded from the air by Israeli fighters which, in the absence of Egyptian planes, were having a field day with Egyptian ground forces. They smashed a large convoy near Bir Gafgafa.

Meanwhile, a third force–airborne–had been dropped in the area of the Suez Canal, apparently prepared to cut off any Egyptians who might manage to escape from the Central Sinai trap.

ISRAELI UNITS CAPTURE RAFAH; CUT OFF GAZA STRIP FROM EGYPT

Earlier, the Israelis, slashing northward behind El Auja, captured Rafah and cut the Gaza strip away from Egyptian territory. The town, at the southern end of the strip, is near the Mediterranean coast and on the principal coastal road to Gaza itself.

With the taking of Rafah, one stage of the Sinai operation was completed. The action was the key to the closing off of the Gaza strip and it shut off Egyptian forces in the area. Those forces were caught in a pocket between El Auja and Abu Ageila.

Rafah was the last possible way out for Egyptians in the Gaza strip, since the earlier capture of the strongpoint at Kusseima and the fighting over Abu Ageila effectively shut down the only other first-class roads from Sinai and Egypt to the Israeli border.

The town is situated on what was a main route during World War II, used at that time by the British for the transfer of their forces to the Western Desert. Rafah also has a small military airstrip, which could be converted into a full-scale airfield with new installations and fuel. It is understood here that the Israelis have taken this airstrip in the course of their drive on, and subsequent capture of, the town itself.