The first Swiss Red Cross plane arrived at an Israeli air-field this morning to begin the repatriation of wounded Egyptian prisoners of war now being treated in Israeli hospitals. An agreement on the repatriation was reached only Wednesday night between Israeli and Red Cross officials.
The wounded prisoners, most of them officers, will be flown to Cyprus or Switzerland and sent home from there. There are several hundred Arab prisoners of war in Israeli hospitals now. In all, Israel is holding 5,499 prisoners of war of whom 4,440 are Egyptians; 433, Jordanians, and 333, Syrians, in addition to 179 wounded of all nations.
The bag of prisoners includes nine generals, 10 colonels and 300 other officers of all ranks. The Arabs are holding 16 Israeli prisoners. Egypt is holding three pilots and six Navy men; Jordan, Syria and Iraq each have two prisoners and Lebanon, which did not engage in the fighting, one. Red Cross officials reported that Egypt would be ready for a speedy exchange of prisoners.
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