In a 14-hour sunrise-to-sunset blitz engineering operation, an Israeli crew manning heavy equipment completed a two-kilometer road which will make possible the reclamation of a huge area in the Israeli demilitarized zone on the western slopes of Tel Azaziat, Israeli officials reported today.
The intensive work, carried out under police protection in an area repeatedly trespassed by Syrian peasants, will provide passage for agricultural machinery into land hitherto uncultivated or only hand cultivated, mainly by the Syrian peasants, a practice which Israeli officials hope the new road will end.
The Syrians made no effort to interfere with the road-building although they did protest to United Nations observers. When it was determined that the work was being carried on entirely within Israeli territory, no further Syrian complaints were made. There was an unconfirmed report that the Syrian Chief of Staff was called to the scene and that he inspected the entire operation.
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