Israel and Jordan have asked the United Nations to withdraw the observers that have been monitoring their 1949 armistice agreement for nearly half a century.
The request, made last week to U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, reflects the terms of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty signed in October.
The observer force, known as the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization, has been in place since Israel and Jordan signed the armistice agreement in the aftermath of the war of 1948, when Israel’s Arab neighbors responded to the establishment of the Jewish state by declaring war.
The force is headquartered in the Government House in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the high commissioner of Palestine during the British Mandate period.
Between 1949 and 1967, that area was part of the demilitarized zone separating Israel and Jordan.
The force now has 217 military observers.
Most of them are working as adjuncts to other U.N. forces supervising Israel’s truces with Lebanon and Syria, and to the multinational force monitoring the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
Israel’s Jordanian front, the only one to see no military conflict since 1967, has been the only border under the sole supervision of the truce supervision group.
According to Israeli sources, Israel has asked the United Nations for an immediate withdrawal, while Jordan has requested a more gradual reduction.
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