calling upon them, as a further
provisional measure under Article 40 of the Charter of the United Nations
and in order to facilitate the transition from the present truce to
permanent peace in Palestine, to negotiate an armistice;
Having
decided to enter into negotiations under United Nations Chairmanship
concerning the implementation of the Security Council resolution of 16
November 1948; and having appointed representatives empowered to negotiate
and conclude an Armistice Agreement;
The undersigned
representatives, having exchanged their full powers found to be in good
and proper form, have agreed upon the following provisions:
ARTICLE I
With a view to promoting the return of
permanent peace in Palestine and in recognition of the importance in this
regard of mutual assurances concerning the future military operations of
the Parties, the following principles, which shall be fully observed by
both Parties during the armistice, are hereby affirmed:
1. The
injunction of the Security Council against resort to military force in the
settlement of the Palestine question shall henceforth be scrupulously
respected by both Parties. The establishment of an armistice between their
armed forces is accepted as an indispensable step toward the liquidation
of armed conflict and the restoration of peace in Palestine.
2. No
aggressive action by the armed forces - land, sea or air - of either Party
shall be undertaken, planned, or threatened against the people or the
armed forces of the other; it being understood that the use of the term
"planned" in this context has no bearing on normal staff planning as
generally practised in military organizations.
3. The right of each
Party to its security and freedom from fear of attack by the armed forces
of the other shall be fully respected.
ARTICLE II
With a specific view to the implementation of
the resolution of the Security Council of 16 November 1948, the following
principles and purposes are affirmed:
1. The principle that no
military or political advantage should be gained under the truce ordered
by the Security Council is recognized.
2. It is also recognized
that no provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights,
claims and positions of either Party hereto in the ultimate peaceful
settlement of the Palestine question, the provisions of this Agreement
being dictated exclusively by military and not by political
considerations.
ARTICLE III
1. In pursuance of the foregoing principles
and of the resolution of the Security Council of 16 November 1948, a
general armistice between the armed forces of the two Parties - land, sea
and air - is hereby established.
2. No element of the land, sea or
air military or para-military forces of either Party, including
non-regular forces, shall commit any warlike or hostile act against the
military or para-military forces of the other Party, or against civilians
in territory under the control of that Party; or shall advance beyond or
pass over for any purpose whatsoever the Armistice Demarcation Line set
forth in Article V of this Agreement; or enter into or pass through the
air space of the other Party or through the waters within three miles of
the coastline of the other Party.
3. No warlike act or act of
hostility shall be conducted from territory controlled by one of the
Parties to this Agreement against the other Party or against civilians in
territory under control of that Party.
ARTICLE IV
1. The line described in Article V of this
Agreement shall be designated as the Armistice Demarcation Line and is
delineated in pursuance of the purpose and intent of the resolution of the
Security Council of 16 November 1948.
2. The basic purpose of the
Armistice Demarcation Line is to delineate the line beyond which the armed
forces of the respective Parties shall not move.
3. Rules and
regulations of the armed forces of the Parties, which prohibit civilians
from crossing the fighting lines or entering the area between the lines,
shall remain in effect after the signing of this Agreement with
application to the Armistice Demarcation Line defined in Article V,
subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of that Article.
ARTICLE V
1. It is emphasized that the following
arrangements for the Armistice Demarcation Line between the Israeli and
Syrian armed forces and for the Demilitarized Zone are not to be
interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial
arrangements affecting the two Parties to this Agreement.
2. In
pursuance of the spirit of the Security Council resolution of 16 November
1948, the Armistice Demarcation Line and the demilitarized Zone have been
defined with a view toward separating the armed forces of the two Parties
in such manner as to minimize the possibility of friction and incident,
while providing for the gradual restoration of normal civilian life in the
area of the Demilitarized Zone, without prejudice to the ultimate
settlement.
3. The Armistice Demarcation Line shall be as
delineated on the map attached to this Agreement as Annex I. The Armistice
Demarcation Line shall follow a line midway between the existing truce
lines, as certified by the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
for the Israeli and Syrian forces. Where the existing truce lines run
along the international boundary between Syria and Palestine, the
Armistice Demarcation Line shall follow the boundary line.
4. The
armed forces of the two Parties shall nowhere advance beyond the Armistice
Demarcation Line.
5. (a) Where the Armistice Demarcation Line does
not correspond to the international boundary between Syria and Palestine,
the area between the Armistice Demarcation Line and the boundary, pending
final territorial settlement between the Parties, shall be established as
a Demilitarized Zone from which the armed forces of both Parties shall be
totally excluded, and in which no activities by military or para-military
forces shall be permitted. This provision applies to the Ein Gev and
Dardara sectors which shall form part of the Demilitarized
Zone.
(b) Any advance by the armed forces, military or
para-military, of either Party into any part of the Demilitarized Zone,
when confirmed by the United Nations representatives referred to in the
following sub-paragraph, shall constitute a flagrant violation of this
Agreement.
(c) The Chairman of the Mixed Armistice Commission
established in Article VII of this Agreement and United Nations Observers
attached to the Commission shall be responsible for ensuring the full
implementation of this Article.
(d) The withdrawal of such armed
forces as are now found in the Demilitarized Zone shall be in accordance
with the schedule of withdrawal annexed to this Agreement (Annex
II).
(e) The Chairman of the Mixed Armistice Commission shall be
empowered to authorize the return of civilians to villages and settlements
in the Demilitarized Zone and the employment of limited numbers of locally
recruited civilian police in the zone for internal security purposes, and
shall be guided in this regard by
the schedule of withdrawal referred
to in sub-paragraph (d) of this Article.
6. On each side of
the Demilitarized Zone there shall be areas, as defined in Annex III to
this Agreement, in which defensive forces only shall be maintained, in
accordance with the definition of defensive forces set forth in Annex IV
to this Agreement.
ARTICLE VI
All prisoners of war detained by either Party
to this Agreement and belonging to the armed forces, regular or irregular,
of the other Party, shall be exchanged as follows:
1. The exchange
of prisoners of war shall be under United Nations supervision and control
throughout. The exchange shall take place at the site of the Armistice
Conference within twenty-four hours of the signing of this
Agreement.
2. Prisoners of war against whom a penal prosecution may
be pending, as well as those sentenced for crime or other offence, shall
be included in this exchange of prisoners.
3. All articles of
personal use, valuables, letters, documents, identification marks, and
other personal effects of whatever nature, belonging to prisoners of war
who are being exchanged, shall be returned to them, or, if they have
escaped or died, to the Party to whose armed forces they
belonged.
4. All matters not specifically regulated in this
Agreement shall be decided in accordance with the principles laid down in
the International Convention relating to the Treatment of Prisoners of
War, signed at Geneva on 27 July 1929.
5. The Mixed Armistice
Commission established in Article VII of this Agreement shall assume
responsibility for locating missing persons, whether military or civilian,
within the areas controlled by each Party, to facilitate their expeditious
exchange. Each Party undertakes to extend to the Commission full
co-operation and assistance in the discharge of this
function.
ARTICLE VII
1. The execution of the provisions of this
Agreement shall be supervised by a Mixed Armistice Commission composed of
five members, of whom each Party to this Agreement shall designate two,
and whose Chairman shall be the United Nations Chief of Staff of the Truce
Supervision Organization or a senior officer from the Observer personnel
of that Organization designated by him following consultation with both
Parties to this Agreement.
2. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall
maintain its headquarters at the Customs House near Jisr Banat Yakub and
at Mahanayim, and shall hold its meetings at such places and at such times
as it may deem necessary for the effective conduct of its work.
3.
The Mixed Armistice Commission shall be convened in its first meeting by
the United Nations Chief of Staff of the Truce Supervision Organization
not later than one week following the signing of this Agreement.
4.
Decisions of the Mixed Armistice Commission, to the extent possible, shall
be based on the principle of unanimity. In the absence of unanimity,
decisions shall be taken by majority vote of the members of the Commission
present and voting.
5. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall
formulate its own rules of procedure. Meetings shall be held only after
due notice to the members by the Chairman. The quorum for its meetings
shall be a majority of its members.
6. The Commission shall be
empowered to employ observers, who may be from among the military
organizations of the Parties or from the military personnel of the United
Nations Truce Supervision Organization, or from both, in such numbers as
may be considered essential to the performance of its functions. In the
event United Nations Observers should be so employed, they shall remain
under the command of the United Nations chief of Staff of the Truce
Supervision Organization. Assignments of a general or special nature given
to United Nations Observers attached to the Mixed Armistice Commission
shall be subject to approval by the United Nations Chief of Staff or his
designated representative on the Commission, whichever is serving as
Chairman.
7. Claims or complaints presented by either Party
relating to the application of this Agreement shall be referred
immediately to the Mixed Armistice Commission through its Chairman. The
Commission shall take such action on all such claims or complaints by
means of its observation and investigation machinery as it may deem
appropriate, with a view to equitable and mutually satisfactory
settlement.
8. Where interpretation of the meaning of a particular
provision of this Agreement, other than the Preamble and Article I and II,
is at issue, the Commission's interpretation shall prevail. The
Commission, in its discretion and as the need arises, may from time to
time recommend to the Parties modifications in the provisions of this
Agreement.
9. The Mixed Armistice Commission shall submit to both
Parties reports on its activities as frequently as it may consider
necessary. A copy of each such report shall be presented to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations for transmission to the
appropriate organ or agency of the United Nations.
10. Members of
the Commission and its Observers shall be accorded such freedom of
movement and access in the area covered by this Agreement as the
Commission may determine to be necessary, provided that when such
decisions of the Commission are reached by a majority vote United Nations
Observers only shall by employed.
11. The expenses of the
Commission, other than those relating to United Nations Observers, shall
be apportioned in equal shares between the two Parties to this
Agreement.
ARTICLE VIII
1. The present Agreement is not subject to
ratification and shall come into force immediately upon being
signed.
2. This Agreement, having been negotiated and concluded in
pursuance of the resolution of the Security Council of 16 November 1948
calling for the establishment of an armistice in order to eliminate the
treat to the peace in Palestine and to facilitate the transition from the
present truce to permanent peace in Palestine, shall remain in force until
a peaceful settlement between the Parties is achieved, except as provided
in paragraph 3 of this Article.
3. The Parties to this Agreement
may, by mutual consent, revise this Agreement or any of its provisions, or
may suspend its application, other than Articles I and III, at any time.
In the absence of mutual agreement and after this Agreement has been in
effect for one year from the date of its signing, either of the Parties
may call upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations to convoke a
conference of representatives of the two Parties for the purpose of
reviewing, revising, or suspending any of the provisions of this Agreement
other than Articles I and III. Participation in such conferences shall be
obligatory upon the Parties.
4. If the conference provided for in
paragraph 3 of this Article does not result in an agreed solution of a
point in dispute, either Party may bring the matter before the Security
Council of the United Nations for the relief sought on the grounds that
this Agreement has been concluded in pursuance of Security Council action
toward the end of achieving peace in Palestine.
5. This Agreement,
of which the English and French texts are equally authentic, is signed in
quintuplicate. One copy shall be retained by each Party, two copies
communicated to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for
transmission to the Security Council and the United Nations Conciliation
Commission on Palestine, and one copy to the Acting Mediator on
Palestine.
DONE at Hill 232 near MAHANAYIM on the 20th July 1949,
in the presence of the Personal Deputy of the United Nations Acting
Mediator on Palestine and the United Nations Chief of Staff of the Truce
Supervision Organization.