Agreement on the withdrawal of Israel troops from the Gaza and Akaba areas was reached today between Maj. Gen. Moshe Dayan, Israel’s military chief, and Maj. Gen. E. L. M. Burns, commander of the United Nations Emergency Forces, which are to enter into the territory to be evacuated by the Israeli armed forces.
An announcement to this effect was made by Gen. Burns following the meeting with Gen. Dayan at the Lydda airport. The chief of the United Nations forces, however, refused to answer questions by correspondents about when the withdrawal of the Israeli troops will begin. He said he will report the details of the agreement to United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in New York.
Instructions to meet with Gen. Burns and reach an agreement on details of the with drawl were issued to Gen. Dayan by Israel Premier David Ben Gurion this morning following separate conferences with each of the parties represented in the coalition government.
Mr. Ben Gurion was scheduled to appear today before the Israel Parliament to make a statement on the withdrawal issue. However, the session was postponed until tomorrow. In the meantime, the Cabinet at this afternoon to approve the statement which Mr. Ben Gurion will make tomorrow in Parliament. Chances of the Premier obtaining a vote of confidence were seen today as having greatly improved as a result of the latest letter to him by President Eisenhower. The full text was made public here yesterday.
Official circles explained today that in view of the latest clarifications from Washington, Premier Ben Gurion felt that he could issue instructions to Gen. Dayan even before Parliament met. Unconfirmed reports indicated that after Israel starts withdrawal of its troops, it ma-get additional assurances outside of the United Nations, possibly in the form of a declaration by the French Government for which support is expected from Washington and London.
ISRAELI TROOPS TO RETURN TO GAZA IF EGYPT ATTEMPTS TO RE-ENTER TOWN
An official spokesman said that the Israel Premier had instructed Gen. Dayan to arrange for a prompt and full withdrawal from the Gaza and Akaba areas, including military police and the civilian administration. The spokesman stated that Premier Ben Gurion’s decision was based on President Eisenhower’s letter and constituted “an act of faith in the international community.”
The official added that the talks this week-end between Israel Ambassador Abba Eban and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles in Washington yielded nothing substantial in the form of the clarifications Israel sought, but contacts with several governments during the past few days convinced Israel that they would not permit the return to the pre-Sinai situation with Gaza as a base for fedayeen gangs infiltrating Israel and spreading terror.
If Egypt attempts to re-enter the Gaza Strip after Israel withdraws, the Jewish troops will send its troops back into the territory to prevent the Arabs’ entrance, official sources indicated tonight. These same sources said that the Burns-Dayan negotiations will consider means of keeping the Egyptians from reentering Gaza. It was further indicated that Israeli civil servants may remain at their posts after the Israeli troops march out in order to turn oven the reins of government to the UN in an orderly fashion.
STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST WITHDRAWAL; SEVERAL INJURED; 12 ARRESTED
Several hundred Israeli students, in an unprecedented political demonstration, at tempted today to force their way into the Knesset building to voice protests against the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Akaba and Gaza areas. Police battled the students, arresting 12 of them. Several were injured in the melee.
Some Herut leaders predicted that today’s demonstration was only a foretaste of what would happen tomorrow afternoon when the party has called a mass demonstration to coincide with Premier David Ben Gurion’s announcement to Parliament of the withdrawal action. Meanwhile, Herut leaders protested to Speaker of the Knesset Joseph Sprinzak against his “illegal” postponement of today’s session until tomorrow.
The heads of seven Protestant churches in Israel appealed today to the “Christian Church throughout the world” to pray for those who seek conditions for a true and lasting peace. Such peace, the appeal said, must include freedom of fear of aggression for Israel and every other Middle Eastern nation and freedom of economic development. Signatories of the appeal included the heads of the Church of Scotland, Church of the Nazarene, Pentacostal Mission, Anglican Mission, American Gospel Church, Anglican Church and the Assemblies of God.
ISRAEL’S POLITICAL PARTIES DIVIDED ON WITHDRAWAL ISSUE
Premier David Ben Gurion, addressing a meeting of his Mapai central committee last night, declared that any party within the government coalition which votes against his policy of withdrawal from the Akaba and Gaza areas will have to quit the Cabinet. His remarks left open the question of whether his leftist partners, the Achdut Avodah and the Mapam could abstain and still remain in the government.
The Mapam continues its opposition to the withdrawal agreement, but the party’s national council has decided not to bring down the government by voting against Premier Ben Gurion tomorrow. It will allow each deputy to decide for himself.
The small Progressive Party will back the government to the hilt. A meeting of the party executive yesterday expressed a desire for national unity, urging the opposition parties not to increase internal pressures. It also hailed the support of American Jewry in these “grave days.”
The religious party, composed of the Mizrachi and Poale Mizrachi. has agreed to support the decision to quit the Akaba and Gaza areas under the conditions worked out in Washington. It rejected a dramatic plea by Rabbi Mordecai Nurok that he be permitted to abstain as a matter of conscience.
The centrist General Zionist Party, at a meeting of its Parliamentary faction last night, decided to vote against the Government’s withdrawal policy when the matter comes to the Knesset tomorrow. The General Zionists are in the opposition.
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