The Israel Government today notified the United Nations truce commission that it will resume drainage work within a few days in the demilitarized section of the Huleh swamp, on the Israel-Syrian frontier, despite Syrian objections. The project is financed by the Jewish National Fund.
Israel’s notification was given following a meeting yesterday of the Israel-Syrian armistice commission at which the Syrian representatives insisted that work on the Huleh swamp must be stopped. The Israeli representatives rejected the Syrian stand. Since, under the terms of the armistice pact, the U.N. chairman of the truce commission is responsible for returning the demilitarized zones to normal “civilian” existence, the commission agreed that the chairman should take over responsibility for the problem. Both sides, however, made it clear that they will continue to maintain their present positions.
The Israeli representatives on the commission accepted the chairman’s proposal that compensation be paid to Arab landowners affected by the drainage project. The amount is to be determined by the chairman if no agreement is reached between the Arabs and the development company which is carrying out the reclamation project.
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