Egypt Commits 2 Cease-fire Violations

Israel accused Egypt of two cease-fire violations today, less than 24 hours after the two countries signed their six-point armistice agreement. According to an Israeli report, the Egyptians opened small arms fire on Israeli forces near the Cairo-Suez road. In the second instance, Egyptians opened fire on Israeli forces near Lake Timsah. It had been reported earlier that the Egyptians were observing the cease-fire and had made no further attempts to alter or improve their positions since the signing ceremonies yesterday.

Israeli soldiers meanwhile dismantled a roadblock set up by UN forces which the Israelis claimed was unauthorized and unagreed to. The roadblock was located at the western approaches to the town of Suez, cutting off the traffic of Israeli forces. The Israeli soldiers tore it down after their warnings and explanations went unheeded by the UN, a report said.

Senior Israeli and Egyptian officers continued to meet at the 101 kilometer marker on the Suez-Cairo road to resolve their different interpretations of yesterday’s agreement. The subjects discussed included supplies to the encircled Egyptian Third Army and the town of Suez and the POW issue. Sources here indicated that the two sides were still at odds. Today’s talks lasted three hours and the two delegations split into sub-committees. But a UN spokesman said the atmosphere was even more friendly than at yesterday’s meeting.

There has been no movement reported toward a POW exchange and Israel has apparently not yet turned over the checkpoints on the Suez-Cairo road to United Nations troops as stipulated by the agreement. An earlier report said that the Israeli army checkpoint at kilometer 101 was handed over to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) this evening. Later, however, sources here said it appeared that the UN was in fact operating its own checkpoint on the Egyptian side of the line.