Israel refuted today Syrian charges, made July 22 in a letter to Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, that Israeli forces opened fire on Syrian civilians working their fields on June 21.
In a letter to Waldheim, the Acting Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN. Ambassador Pinhas Eliav termed the Syrian charges “untrue” and contended that “the only firing by Israeli forces in the area in question on that date was a routine weapon test during which, in compliance with standing orders, the shots were all directed west of line A and in no case into Syrian territory. This is borne out by the UNDOF investigation,” the Israeli representative said.
Eliav accused Syria with an attempt “to inflate a routine and insignificant weapons test into an international incident” while Syria is engaged in a massive military intervention in Lebanon. The Israeli envoy requested his letter be Circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and the Security Council.
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