U. N. Truce Chief Substantiates Israel’s Charges Against Syria

There was absolute certainty here today that Syria’s proposal to the Security Council for the expulsion of Israel and for adoption of economic sanctions against Israel has collapsed entirely as a result of the latest report from the UN truce chief, Maj, Gen. E. L. M. Burns.

The Council is scheduled to meet again this week on Syria’s complaint arising from Israel’s December 11 attack against Syrian gun position which had fired on Jewish shipping on Lake Tiberias. But as members of the Council were preparing to resume their work after the long New Year week-end, they had before them a report from Gen. Burns confirming charges previously made by Israel to the effect that Syria itself had violated the armistice agreement between the two countries by ordering gun fire against Israeli fishing boats and police craft on Lake Tiberias, which lies wholly within Israeli territory.

Israel’s delegation chief here, Abba S. Eban, showed members of the Council at their last meeting photo-copies of documents seized from the Syrians by the Israel forces, proving that the firing of Syrian guns had been specifically ordered by the Syrian-army’s high command. Now Gen. Burns, in his report supplementing an earlier report on the December 11 incident, has told the Council that a Syrian cadet officer, taken prisoner by the Israelis, has admitted he had been ordered to fire on the Israeli shipping on the lake.

The orders received by the Syrian officers in charge of the Lake Tiberias gun emplacements “contravened the armistice agreement,” Gen. Burns declared while shooting at the Israelis “is a violation of the general armistice agreement.”