General Carl von Horn, chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, was reported today to have informed Israeli officials that his flying mission to Damascus in connection with renewed Syrian attacks against Israeli settlements in the Lake Tiberias area had been useful.
However, the Damascus Radio declared today that the talks with General von Horn had failed and announced that the Syrian civil defense had been mobilized and private hospitals placed at the Syrian army’s disposal.
The UN chief made a flying visit to Damascus yesterday and conveyed to Syrian officials, including the Syrian Chief of Staff, that Israel viewed the border situation with gravity as well as the concern of the United Nations over border incidents. The latest occurred last Tuesday when an Israeli settlement member was injured during several hours of shooting.
Israeli sources indicated that the behavior of the Syrians in the demilitarized zone could be the only measure of the extent of the UN chief’s success in his mission. He was to meet later today with Israeli Foreign Office officials for further talks.
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