Egypt’s Suez Attacks Seen Creating New Refugee Problem for Cairo

The Chief of Staff of Israel’s armed forces said yesterday that Egypt has created a serious new refugee problem in the Suez Canal zone by its continuing violation of the cease-fire agreements. Maj. Gen. Haim Bar Lev told a class of newly commissioned officers that up to a quarter of a million residents of Egyptian towns in the canal area have been forced to evacuate because of the fighting which Egypt provokes.

Gen. Bar Lev said Israel had to prepare for a new war because Arab leaders still think that war is the only way for them to “turn back the clock.” They are not plotting a full scale war now, he said because they respect Israel’s military superiority. However, Gen. Bar Lev warned, Israel will continue to “exact the full price” for Arab violations of the cease-fire agreements. He said the Egyptians are learning that the Nile Valley and the Gulf of Suez are vulnerable. Their oil ports are presently paralyzed, he added.