The United States Department of State officially requested Israel this weekend to extend beyond August 31 the deadline for admitting Arab refugees who wished to return to the Israeli-held west bank of the Jordan River from Jordan, where they had fled during the June war. The request, in the name of Secretary of State Dean Rusk, was given to Israel’s Minister here, Ephraim Evron, by Eugene Rostow, the Under Secretary of State.
Mr. Evron replied that the Israeli Government had already extended the deadline for the return of the refugees, previously fixed at August 10. He noted that more than 10,000 applications from the would-be returnees, already approved by Israel, had still not been used. He also called Mr. Rostow’s attention to the incitements by the Jordanian Government, aimed at the would-be returnees and at those who had already come into the west bank area, stating that Israel was “extremely disturbed” by the Jordan Government’s actions in this regard.
(At the United Nations, Secretary-General U Thant this weekend handed a note to Israel’s envoy, Ambassador Gideon Rafael, appealing urgently to Israel, “on humanitarian grounds,” to extend the August 31 deadline. Stating that he was acting on his own initiative, Mr. Thant asked that “those who signified their desire to return be, in fact, given a reasonable opportunity to do so.”)
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