Evening star., 1949-01-06
Palestine Cease-Fire
Ordered by U. n. May
WinAcceptanceTo Today
by the Assoeiotsd Press

VHlAIecpldnwcIUudy
by the A.soeiotsd Press
TEL AVN Israel, Jan. 6.-The
Security Council order of De-
cember 20 for an immediate
cease-fire in Southern Palestine
may be honored soon.
The Israeli cabinet met last night,
and q usually reliable private source
said the ministers, whose troops
have wound up a three-day in
vasion strike into Egypt, decided to
accept the order.
It was understood the acceptance
might be announced today. The
timing and other details apparently
would be fixed BY United Nations
truce observers.
Egypt cabled her acceptance to
Lake Success Tuesday, subject to a
like decision from Israel. Egyptian
and Israeli troops have been fight
Ing in the Negeb desert and the
Southern Palestine coastal strip of
and on since mid-October.
Egypt Invasion Announced.
A government spokesman last
night announced the Israeli thrust
into Egypt. He said Jewish troops,
"in hot pursuit of the fleeing
enemy" recently knitted to the
Egyptian military base of Ell Arish,
on the Mediterranean coast 80
miles below the Palestine frontier.
He said they killed or wounded sew
eral hundred Egyptians, captured
several hundred more and seized or
destroyed several planes, field guns,
gasoline and other stores. El Arish
air fields were reported damaged
heavily.
The troops withdrew according to
plan, the spokesman said, and there
was never atany time any design on
the part OF Israel to occupy Egyptian
territory"
He said the United States had
made representations expressing the
desire for promotion of peace in
the Middle East-a desire with
which the Israeli government iden-
titles itself completely"
(This information, which passed
through Israel censorship, did not
give the invasion dates. The
British Foreign Office disclosed
December 20, while the Security
Council was considering its latest
cease-fire order, reports of such
raid on El Arish. There was no
confirmation from Tel Aviv at
that time.
"a British government source
said last night that Britain might
ask the Security Council to lift
its embargo on arms shipments
to Arab countries If Israeli patrol
action on the Egyptian frontier
continued. He said, however,
there was absolutely mo ques-
ton" Of Britain going to war with
Israel, as some British newSpa-
pers have suggested. A mutual
defense treaty links Britain and
Egypt)
Some Fighting in Negeb.
Some fighting was reported yes
terday from the Negeb, but it ap-
parently was on a smaller scale than
during the last few days.
Three persons were reported in
jured when an unidentified plane
bombed q Jewish settlement east
Of Tel Aviv last night. Jerusalem
and Tel Aviv also had alerts, but
no bombs fell.
(The Egyptian War Ministry
announced that Israeli attacks
on Egyptian positions near the
frontier town of Rata continued
yesterday, but "the enemy was
repulsed and retreated, leaving
his dead and some of his weap-
ons before our positions" Action
Of the day, it said, included an
exchange Of fire in the region
Of Sur Bahir, a village midway
between Jerusalem and Bethle-
hem.)
An Israeli army spokesman said
two Egyptian planes were shot
down by Jewish forces in the Negeb
area over the past two days.
Egyptians suffered heavy casual
ties, he added, and some of their
ground material was destroyed.
Mortar fire also was reported from
the Ramat Hakovesh region, east
of the central Israel coastal plain,
where Jewish and Iraqui units face
each other.
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