United Nations observers today ensconced themselves along the Israel-Syrian border to keep watch on the dangerously tense demilitarized zone.
With the permission of Israeli authorities, the observers set up posts on hills commanding the view of the border area. The observers have been reinforced by officers on loan from the UN Emergency Force in the Gaza Strip and by equipment trucked from Gaza to Galilee. Although the Israelis agreed to the UN guard, they are pessimistic concerning its value, noting that similar observation in the Gaza area had not kept the Egyptians from launching numerous raids on Israeli settlements.
It was revealed today that the rescue of ten wounded Israelis in the clash with the Syrians last week was accomplished only after a tank was brought up and it blasted Syrian gun positions on a 400-foot ridge commanding the Israeli position. Meanwhile, significant Syrian troop movements continue in the area behind the demarcation line.
(A United Nations spokesman denied today that Col. Byron V. Leary, Acting Chief of Staff of the UN Truce Supervision Organization, had made his report of the recent Israel-Syrian clash above Lake Huleh. Rumors of the report had been persistent over the past four days. Despite the official denials, one excellent source at the UN, not connected however with the Secretariat, said that Col. Leary’s findings were very much closer to the Israeli version of the affair than Syria’s.)
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