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Israel, Egypt agree to meet on supplies for 3rd army, truce Non-military convoy to be sent WASHINGTON — Israel and Egypt have agreed to send military officers to a joint meeting to arrange for a convoy of non-military supplies for Egypt’s beleaguered Third Army and discuss the cease-fire situation, the State Department said yesterday. The U. S. acted as go-between to arrange the first official encounter between Egyptians and Israelis, State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey said in a statement. (The Egyptians are understood to have appealed to the Americans to help them find a solution to the problems of their Third Army and the Americans were prepared to use their good offices, both for humanitarian reasons and as a move that would lead to Israel-Egypt talks.) The State Department said: "As a result of our good offices‘ Egypt and Israel had agreed to meet ’on the ground‘ to discuss implementing the cease-fire. The agreement ’specifically …would permit a convoy of non-military supplies to Egyptian Third Army which is located on the east bank and that there would be both United Nations and Red Cross personnel involved." There was no word from Israel as to when the meeting would take place but Cairo’s official Middle East News Agency said Egyptian and Israeli military representatives would meet last night ’somewhere on the front’ under the U.N. flag. American officials said Israel made the first proposal for such a meeting at 9:30 p.m. on Friday night (2:30 a.m. Saturday Israel time). According to their account, the U.S. relayed the Israeli suggestion directly to Cairo, which accepted the idea sometime after midnight (6 a.m. Israel time). McCloskey indicated the supplies would include food, water and other non-military equipment. The convoy, he said, would be under jurisdiction of both the U.N. and the Red Cross. McCloskey said that this first limited meeting is ’a promising development’ and might lead to further expansion of contacts dealing with other areas of the cease-fire. But for the moment, he said, the military officials of the two sides intend to deal primarily with that area where cease-fire violations still continue. State Department officials said that whether this initial contact can be broadened into other areas remains to be seen. One senior State Dept. official, who declined to be identified, said that if Egypt and Israel resolved some of the issues on the ground, ’that in our view would be a promising development towards future contacts between the two sides.’ The U. N. Security Council resolution that formed the basis of the cease-fire called for prompt negotiations between Israel and the Arabs on a permanent peace settlement.
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