1968_4_arabisraelwar

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exercising its undiminished right to free passage. Eban also said that "The
shape and extent of Israel's borders will be determined by the kind of peace
that can be concluded with our Arab neighbors and the security that such a
peace could ensure," and added, "Anyone who wants to be informed of Israel's
position on this question should sit down at the negotiating table with
her." The following resolution summed up the debate on August 1:
The Keneset approved the Government's position in favor of steps leading to
direct talks between Israel and the Arab countries on the signing of peace agreements,
and reaffirms that so long as peace is not attained Israel will continue
to maintain unaltered the situation created by the cease-fire arrangements.
Defense Minister Dayan asserted, on July 19, Israel's capability of holding
on to the territories she had occupied during the six-day war pending a
complete revision of her relationships with the Arabs and of her own international
status. The Sinai coast, the canal, the Golan Heights and the Jordan
River line were all more easily defended than the former frontiers, he added.
On August 24 Government House (former UN headquarters) in East
Jerusalem was handed back to General Bull, with the Israeli government
stipulation that he and his staff were to act only as cease-fire observers, and
not in their former capacity under the armistice agreements.
Firing by the Egyptians at Israeli units and planes in the canal area, and
at Israeli vessels in the Gulf of Suez and along the Sinai coast led to a number
of serious incidents in September and October.
An Egyptian torpedo boat was sunk in an exchange on September 4; serious
damage was done on both sides of the cease-fire line on the 12th, and
three Egyptian boats were hit in the canal on the 20th. On October 21 the
Israeli destroyer Eilat, patrolling in international waters some 14 miles from
Port Said, was hit and sunk by three missiles from Egyptian Komar-type
boats of Soviet manufacture. Of the 198-man crew, 34 were killed and 91
wounded; 13 were missing. Israel protested to the Security Council, and
Defense Minister Dayan, on October 23, called Nasser's order to attack the
Eilat an order to violate the cease-fire and to renew hostilities.
On the following day Israeli guns, replying to Egyptian artillery fire from
Port Ibrahim and the town of Suez, hit fuel tanks and oil refineries with an
estimated annual capacity of over 5 million tons. Emphasizing that it was
the Egyptians who had opened fire, Dayan said, on October 28, "Once the
area was under fire, our soldiers looked for better targets and improved
their aim."
Meanwhile, shooting by Jordanian forces at Israeli patrols and units across
the river continued at intervals. At the same time, civilians and soldiers were
injured by mines in the Gaza Strip and West Bank areas. Over 50 young men
from the Gaza Strip, believed to be members of Ahmed Shukairy's Palestine
Liberation Army, were arrested in August, trying to cross into Jordan. The
activities of Syrian-trained and -organized al-Fatah marauders resumed. A
train was mined near Tulkarm; factories, installations, and homes were dam-