Arab-Israeli Conflict - 1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice
Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and
its neighbors Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The agreements ended the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established the
armistice lines between Israel and the West Bank, also known as the
Green Line, until the 1967 Six-Day War.
Agreements
With Egypt
The agreement with Egypt was signed on February 24. The main points
were:
* The armistice line was drawn along the international border (dating
back to 1906) for the most part, except near the Mediterranean Sea,
where Egypt remained in control of a strip of land along the coast,
which became known as the Gaza Strip.
* The Egyptian forces besieged in the Faluja Pocket were allowed to
return to Egypt with their weapons, and the area was handed over to
Israel.
* A zone on both sides of the border around 'Uja al-Hafeer (Nitzana) was
to be demilitarized, and became the seat of the bilateral armistice
committee.
With Lebanon
The agreement with Lebanon was signed on March 23. The main points were:
* The armistice line ('the Blue line') was drawn along the international
border.
* Unlike the other agreements, there was no clause disclaiming this line
as an international border, which was thereafter treated as it had been
previously, as a de jure international border.
* Israel withdrew its forces from 13 villages in Lebanese territory,
which were occupied during the war.
With Jordan
The agreement with Jordan was signed on April 3. The main points:
* Jordanian forces remained in most positions held by them in the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Old City.
* Jordan withdrew its forces from their front posts overlooking the
Plain of Sharon. In return, Israel agreed to allow Jordanian forces to
take over positions in the West Bank previously held by Iraqi forces.
* A Special Committee was to be formed to make arrangements for safe
movement of traffic between Jerusalem and Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew
University, along the Latrun-Jerusalem Highway, free access to the Holy
Places, and other matters.
With Syria
The agreement with Syria was signed on July 20. Syria withdrew its
forces from most of the territories it had control of west of the
international border. Those areas were then to be demilitarized zones.
Others
Iraq, whose forces took an active part in the war (although it has no
common border with Israel), withdrew its forces from the region in March
1949. The front occupied by Iraqi forces was covered by the armistice
agreement between Israel and Jordan and there was no separate agreement
with Iraq.
The agreements left about 78% of 1948 mandatory Palestine in Israeli
hands. The rest of the area (the Gaza Strip and West Bank) was occupied
by Egypt and Jordan respectively until 1967. See the related articles
Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt and Occupation of the West Bank
and East Jerusalem by Jordan.
The armistice agreements were intended to serve only as interim
agreements, until they would be replaced by permanent peace treaties.
However, no peace treaties were actually signed until decades later.
Excepting the agreement with Lebanon, the armistice agreements were
clear (at Arab insistence) that they were not creating permanent or de
jure borders. The Egyptian-Israeli agreement stated "The Armistice
Demarcation Line is not to be construed in any sense as a political or
territorial boundary, and is delineated without prejudice to rights,
claims and positions of either Party to the Armistice as regards
ultimate settlement of the Palestine question." [1]
The Jordanian-Israeli agreement stated: "... no provision of this
Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims, and positions
of either Party hereto in the peaceful settlement of the Palestine
questions, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively
by military considerations" (Art. II.2), "The Armistice Demarcation
Lines defined in articles V and VI of this Agreement are agreed upon by
the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or
boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto." (Art.
VI.9) [2]
In the Knesset then Foreign Minister and future Prime Minister Moshe
Sharett called the armistice lines "provisional boundaries" and the old
international borders which the armistice lines, except with Jordan,
were based on, "natural boundaries". [3]. Israel did not lay claim to
territory beyond them and proposed them, with minor modifications except
at Gaza, as the basis of permanent political frontiers at the Lausanne
Conference, 1949.[4]
After the 1967 Six Day War Israeli leaders warned against turning the
armistice lines into permanent borders on the grounds of Israeli
security:
* Prime Minister Golda Meir noted the pre-1967 borders were so dangerous
that it "would be treasonable" for an Israeli leader to accept them (New
York Times, December 23, 1969).
* The Foreign Minister Abba Eban said the pre-1967 borders have "a
memory of Auschwitz" (Der Spiegel, November 5, 1969).
* Prime Minister Menachem Begin described a proposal for a retreat to
the pre-1967 borders as "national suicide for Israel."
Violations
In each case a Mixed Armistice Commission was formed, which investigated
complaints by either party and made regular reports to the UN Security
Council. In the years following the signing of the agreements, all of
the parties were condemned many times for violations. Egypt kept large
military forces in the demilitarized 'Uja al-Hafeer area. Israel, on its
side, reinforced the Mt. Scopus enclave (which was supposed to be
demilitarized) with armed soldiers, disguised as policemen. Israel also
sent soldiers into Jordanian territory on many occasions to conduct
raids in retaliation for incursions by armed persons into Israel. Syrian
forces launched numerous artillery attacks against Israeli forces and
settlements in the demilitarized zone adjacent to the Golan Heights.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Armistice_Agreements
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