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The Gazette and the 1952 revolution (260) The revolution and pacts (91) ‘The Dirty Border War' Sinai raids 2- In the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict
At the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egyptian forces entered the former British Mandate of Palestine from Sinai to support Palestinian and other Arab forces against the newly declared State of Israel. For a period during the war, Israeli forces entered the north-eastern corner of Sinai. With the exception of Palestine's Gaza Strip, which came under the administration of the All-Palestine government, the western frontier of the former Mandate of Palestine became the Egyptian-Israeli frontier under the 1949 Armistice Agreement. Disputes with Egypt, who banned Israel-bound shipping from the Suez Canal and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, pertained to the al-Auja Demilitarised Zone. By 1955, Israel ceased attending the Mixed Armistice Commission (MAC) and stepped up raids into the Gaza Strip and Sinai to which Egypt retaliated by all possible means, apparently including sponsoring Palestinian fedayeen (guerrillas or self-sacrificer) raids. From September 21, 1955, the Egypt/Israel Demilitarised Zone was occupied by Israel armed forces, UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and the Chief of Staff UNTSO had engaged in efforts to secure the implementation of a plan for withdrawal of Israel armed forces and removal of Egyptian Forces from prohibited positions. Articles VII and VIII of the Egypt-Israel GAA established a Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) centred on El-Auja and forbade the presence of armed forces. It also prohibited Egypt from maintaining defensive positions in an adjoining area west of the Demilitarised Zone, and limited the arms and troops in the Defensive Areas on both sides of the Line. Both Egypt and Israel had indicated to the UN Secretary-General their willingness to comply fully with these two articles, within the framework of a return to full compliance with the Armistice Agreement. The Israeli government gave assurances of its complete acceptance in principle of the plan. The agreed withdrawal, however, never took place. Prime Minister Gamal Abdul Nasser had emerged as the champion of the Arab struggle against Israel. A few dangerous paramilitary actions had drawn Egypt into the conflict in the early to mid-1950s. Israel claimed that bands of Palestinians, including some operating from the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip, launched raids against Israel. Israel immediately developed a policy of massive reprisal against the Arab states sheltering the raiders. [email protected]
