Israel warned today, in the wake of still another mining of one of its army jeeps inside Israel, that Egypt is heading into a situation “where violence must break out” and announced that it would discuss the matter tomorrow with Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold at United Nations headquarters.
The warning, contained in a statement by the Foreign Ministry followed a Cabinet meeting at which the situation along the Gaza border was discussed. The blasting of the jeep near Kerem Abshalom, on the Gaza Strip border opposite Rafah, was the latest in a series of incidents which has seen several Israeli casualties and the theft of large quantities of Israel property from Negev settlements.
It was pointed out that the United Nations Emergency Force had proved its inability to police the frontier. Foreign Ministry circles, refraining pointedly from giving the impression that Israel had decided on a policy of retaliation, stressed that Egypt had once again broken a period of tranquility and brought new tension to the border region.
“Nasser does not seem to have learned from past experience,” the Foreign Ministry statement said. “Placing mines in Israel roads must ultimately result in far-reaching consequences.”
After listing 50 instances of infiltration, mining and theft, the statement said: “It is clear that just as in the past these incursions are a prelude to sinister, dangerous actions for which the Egyptian authorities must bear direct responsibility.” It noted laconically that “plastic mines are not peddled in bazaars and mine-laying requires specific military training.”
The Foreign Ministry also revealed that Egypt has moved a battalion of Sudanese troops into Gaza.
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