Tekoah Charges Syria with 148 Acts of Aggression Since the Start of the Year

Israel complained to the Security Council today that “armed attacks perpetrated from Syrian territory by regular and irregular forces in violation of the cease fire have again been intensified in recent days, causing loss of life and damage.” In a letter to the Council president, Dr. Joaquin Vallejo Arbelaez of Columbia, Israeli ambassador Yosef Tekoah charged that since the beginning of this year, there have been 148 Syrian acts of aggression. He said mortars were used in 34 attacks, Katyusha rockets in three, artillery and tanks in nine and bazookas in 46. There were also, he said, 27 small-arms assaults, 11 mining raids, eight sabotage incursions, two penetrations of air space and eight armed clashes. He noted that in the last four days, these attacks had resulted in the deaths of three Israeli soldiers and the wounding of 12.

The Israeli envoy asserted that “Syrian regular armed forces participated directly in a considerable number of these acts of aggression, including military ambushes.” He stated that “this warfare is pursued in accordance with the openly proclaimed Syrian policy of aggression.” He declared that “in view of these incessant attacks in flagrant violation of the cease fire, Israel is compelled to take self-defense measures to protect itself against Syrian aggression.” Israel did not ask for Security Council action on this complaint, but did ask that its letter be circulated to all members of the Council.

GHORRA SAYS ISRAEL’S CHARGES ARE DOUBTFUL; CITES ATTACKS AGAINST LEBANON

The Lebanese Ambassador to the United Nations has questioned the authenticity of Israeli reports of incidents along Lebanese-Israel border in violation of the cease fire. Ambassador Edouard Ghorra said, “I have not made a count myself but I have strong doubts about the number of these incidents.” He said, on the other hand, that at least 25 attacks have been made by Israel against Lebanese civilians resulting in more than 50 casualties. Ambassador Ghorra stated his views in an interview with Moses Schonfeld, UN correspondent of the Fairchild Broadcasting News Service. The interview was broadcast yesterday over WVOX, a New York radio station. His statement was not a direct answer to Tekoah’s letter but a general rebuttal to Israel’s charges.

The Lebanese envoy said most of the border incidents were “attributed to people Israel claims come from Lebanon. We don’t know the magnitude of these incidents. I can cite hundreds of incidents but I have no international authority to check on my claims.”