Israeli violation of Syria/Israel Armistice Agreement – Letter from UAR

DOCUMENT S/4376

Letter dated 6 July 1960 from the representative of the

United Arab Republic to the President of the Security Council

[Original text: English

[7 July 1960]

With reference to the letter of the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council on 1 July 1960 [S/4365], I have the honour, on instructions from my Government, to bring to your attention the following facts:

1. Israel has submitted a complaint to the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission regarding incidents referred to in document S/4365.  According to our information, Israel’s claims are far from accurate and do not correspond to the facts.  We prefer, however, not to discuss these facts because an investigation is being carried out by the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission and in the context in which it was submitted leads us to believe that the incidents themselves were not the real motive for such submission.

3. The allegation by Israel that there is concentration of United Arab Republic troops in the Syrian-Israel border area is totally unfounded.  The United Arab Republic troops are undertaking no provocative measures in the area, and it is therefore entirely false that troops of the United Arab Republic have renewed unilateral armed action along the Syrian border.

4. Israel has refused to attend the meetings of the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission since 1951.  This refusal on the part of Israel not only constitutes a flagrant violation of the General Armistice Agreement, but also has contributed to the increase of tension in the area.  The Syrian delegation has consistently called for a meeting of the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission in order to investigate complaints and to avoid incidents.  This fact is confirmed by the numerous reports of the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, the latest of which is dated 23 February 1960.

5. It is well known that the state of tension prevailing in the demilitarized zone is totally the responsibility of Israel, due to the fact that the natural characteristics of the demilitarized zone have been extensively changed by Israel in contravention of article 5 of the General Armistice Agreement, as confirmed by the Chief of Staff in his report dated 27 March 1951 1/ and in a later report dated 23 October 1953, 2/ on the basis of which the Security Council adopted its resolution of 27 October 1953. 3/ It was also referred to in the report of the Secretary-General dated 27 September 1956, 4/ and in the report of the Chief of Staff dated 23 February 1960. 5/

6. The aggressive policy of Israel with respect to the demilitarized zone is clearly indicated by the fact that Israel has committed no less than 259 aggressive acts in the said zone since 1 January 1960, regarding which the United Arab Republic Government has submitted complaints to the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission.

7. Responsibility for incidents – trespassings, kidnappings, starting of shooting, etc. – can only be determined by the findings of the Mixed Armistice Commissions provided for by the General Armistice Agreement.  The Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission has time and again expressed its regret for Israel’s persistent refusal to attend its meetings; and the Security Council itself strongly condemned this attitude of Israel, in its resolution of 18 May 1951, 6/ as “inconsistent with the objectives and intent of the Armistice Agreement”.

8. In this connexion we wish to draw the attention of the Security Council to the two resolutions adopted by the Israel-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission at its seventy-ninth emergency meeting on 16 February 1960, 7/ whereby the Commission condemned Israel for its hostile acts in the demilitarized zone.  As recently as 30 May 1960, the Egyptian-Israel Mixed Armistice Commission decided that Israel had committed a hostile act against United Arab Republic air space, condemned Israel and noted with great concern the continuous disregard of the General Armistice Agreement by Israel.

9. The Government of the United Arab Republic deplores Israel’s practice of using the Security Council as a forum for baseless allegations and tendentious propaganda, especially when Israel has been condemned on countless occasions by the Security Council and the Mixed Armistice Commissions.

I have the honour to request that this letter be circulated to all members of the Security Council.

(Signed) Omar Loutfi

Permanent Representative of

the United Arab Republic

to the United Nations

Notes

1/ Ibid., Sixth Year, Supplement for April, May and June 1951, document S/2067.

2/ Ibid., Eight Year, Supplement for October, November and December 1953, document S/3122.

3/ Ibid., document S/3128 (text adopted without change).

4/ Ibid., Eleventh Year, Supplement for July, August and September 1956, document S/3659.

5/ Ibid., Fifteenth Year, Supplement for January, February and March 1960, document S/4270.

6/ S/2157: same text as S/2152/Rev.1.  See Official Records of the Security Council, Sixth Year, 546th meeting, para. 2.

7/ Official Records of the Security Council, Fifteenth Year, Supplement for January, February and March 1960, document S/4268.