As indicated in an earlier article of this series, United Nations peacekeeping forces were initially deployed in the Arab-Israeli zone of conflict upon the inception of the truce that effectively ended the 1948-49 war that established Israel's independence. They have continued to be so deployed, in a variety of positions, and with a variety of duties, almost without interruption from that time up to the present day. During that time, there were three general Arab-Israeli wars, those of 1956, 1967, and 1973, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and numerous other military clashes, in addition to which armed terrorist or ‘counter-terrorist' elements have often moved through zones under UN supervision. The UN force thus deployed along Arab-Israeli borders came to be known as the UN Truce Supervision Organisation for Palestine (UNTSO). A Canadian General, Edeson Burns, was put in charge of that peacekeeping unit in 1954. General Burns in June 1955 renewed his four-point plan to eliminate the causes of fighting along the 30-mile stretch of the Gaza Strip by (1) joint patrols by vehicles carrying both Egyptian and Israeli army personnel as well as UN observers; (2) a line agreement between local military commanders on both sides; (3) construction of a barbed-wire fence along the sensitive areas; and (4) manning of the demarcation outposts by none except regular army troops. Only the last point was immediately acceptable to both Egypt and Israel. General Burns paid a visit to Cairo in December 1955 to discuss consequences of the Israeli attack on Al-Auga. Reporting the General's talks in Cairo, The Egyptian Gazette of December 13, 1955 said under the headline of: Maj. Gen. Proposed Retention of Israeli Soldiers in El-Auga Egypt insists on demilitarisation, Burns told: “During his recent visit to Cairo, General Edeson Burns, Chief UN Truce Supervisor for Palestine, conveyed to General Abdul Hakim Amer, Minister of War and C-in-C of the Armed Forces, a suggestion by the UN Secretary General for the retention of 30 soldiers, whom Israel claims to be policemen in the demilitarised zone of El-Auga. “General Amer informed the Chief UN Truce Supervisor of Egypt's request that the situation in the zone be restored as it was before September 20 last when the Israelis made their attack on the area where their forces have been ever since. The Egyptian demand stipulates that El-Auga zone should remain completely demilitarised. [email protected]
