Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold was informed this morning by Major General E.L.M. Burns, commander of the UN Emergency Force, that Mr. Eylon, the Israeli national taken off the Danish ship Brigitte Toft by Egyptian authorities on July 22, was handed over to Israeli authorities at 10:00 A. M. today at the armistice demarcation line in the Gaza Strip. General Burns was present at the transfer.
With Eylon’s release by the Egyptians, it was revealed here today that Secretary Hammarskjold became intensely interested in the case upon the first announcement of Eylon’s detention and made frequent representations to the Egyptian Government concerning his release. Mr. Hammarskjold and the Secretariat were obviously happy over the news.
(In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry officials said police at the Gaza border heard Eylon tell his mother that he had been beaten by the Egyptians during his imprisonment. The sailor’s watch and cigarette lighter were “missing,” they said. Eylon was forced to broadcast over Radio Cairo but Israeli legal experts said this was not an offense under Israeli law. )
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