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.

One should also note that the armistice agreements were signed by Israel with its Arab neighbours, and though it affects the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian Arabs were not party to these agreements. In those areas where Israel found itself on its neighbour's territory at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (eg in Lebanon and Egypt) it withdrew back across the respective international border. Israel did not claim any territory from its Arab neighbours.

Agreements

With Egypt

On 6 January 1949, Dr Ralph Bunche announced that Egypt had finally consented to start talks with Israel on an armistice. The talks began on the island of Rhodes on 12 January, and, shortly after their commencement, Israel agreed to the release of a besieged Egyptian brigade in Faluja. At the end of the month, the talks foundered.

Israel demanded that Egypt withdraw all its forces from the former area of Palestine, Egypt insisted that Arab forces withdraw to the positions which they held on 14 October 1948, as under Security Council Resolution S/1070 of 4 November 1948. One reason for the deadlock was the mounting tension in Egypt, which culminated on 12 February 1949 in the murder of Hassan el-Banah, leader of the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood. In early February, Israel threatened to abandon the talks, where upon the United States appealed to the parties to bring them to a successful conclusion, and on 24 February the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement was signed in Rhodes.

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 ("Green 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, particularly East Jerusalem which included 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.
• Exchange of territory: According to Article 6 Israel will receive a territory in the area known as Wadi Ara and the Little Triangle in exchange for territory in the southern hills of Hebron. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/arm03.htm#art6
• 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 controlled west of the international border, which became 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.

Cease-fire line vs. permanent border

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The new borders of Israel, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of mandatory Palestine as it stood after the independence of Jordan in 1946. Considering the original British mandate (including Jordan, which was included within the Mandate in the summer of 1921, but excluded from the provisions for a Jewish National Home), however, Israel was created only on 18% of the total area of Palestine and Transjordan. The areas of mandatory Palestine not occupied by Israel (the Gaza Strip and West Bank) were 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 several Israeli leaders argued 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."

The internationally recognized border between Egypt and Israel was eventually demarcated as part of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. The border between Israel and Jordan (except for Jordan's border with the post-1967 West Bank) was demarcated as part of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty.

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 Mount 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.

See also

• 1947 UN Partition Plan
• 1948 Arab-Israeli War
• 1967 Six Day War
• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Blue Line
• Green Line (Israel)

Arab-Israeli peace diplomacy and treaties

• Paris Peace Conference, 1919
• Faisal-Weizmann Agreement (1919)
• Camp David Accords (1978)
• Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (1979)
• Madrid Conference of 1991
• Oslo Accords (1993)
• Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace (1994)
• Camp David 2000 Summit
• Peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs
• List of Middle East peace proposals
• International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict

Texts

The complete texts of the Armistice Agreements can be found at The Avalon Project at Yale Law School

• Egyptian-Israeli General Armistice Agreement, February 24, 1949
• Jordanian-Israeli General Armistice Agreement, April 3, 1949
• Lebanese-Israeli General Armistice Agreement, March 23, 1949
• Israeli-Syrian General Armistice Agreement, July 20, 1949

A search at the United Nations web site for "Mixed Armistice Commission" will reveal many of the reports made to the UN by those commissions.

See also

• Peace Process in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict