Israel walked out of a meeting of the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission yesterday after the Syrian delegation insisted upon discussing an incident which the Israelis held to be outside the jurisdiction of the commission. However, the Israelis made it clear that the walk-out was only from the meeting, not from the MAC, and that they would leave future meetings also if matters outside the jurisdiction of the mixed group were discussed.
The incident involved the killing in an exchange of fire of two Syrians last April who crossed into Israel territory in the demilitarized zone from Syria to give cover to a party of Arab peasants illegally harvesting fields in the demilitarized zone.
The Israel delegation insisted that under the terms of Article V, paragraph 6 of the Israel-Syrian armistice pact only the chairman of the MAC is responsible for assuring full implementation of the conditions of the armistice pact in the demilitarized zone. After the Israelis left the meeting, it was learned, the Syrian resolution censuring Israel in the shooting was adopted. The chairman abstained on the motion, which left only the Syrians voting.
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