Interim Peace Agreement (Sinai II)
(September 1, 1975)
The Egypt-Israel Interim Peace Agreement - also called the Sinai II agreement - was initialed in
Jerusalem and Alexandria on September 1 and officially signed in
Geneva, Switzerland on September 4, 1975.
The agreement provided for a limited forces zone, a UN
supervised buffer zone, an Israeli and an Egyptian electronic
surveillance station and an additional station to be manned by 200
American civilian technicians as part of an early warning system. Egypt also regained access to the Abu Rudeis oil
fields. The duration of the agreement was to be at least three years
with an annual extension of the mandate of the UN Emergency Force.
INTERIM AGREEMENT BETWEEN EGYPT AND
ISRAEL
The Government of the Arab
Republic of Egypt and the Government of Israel have agreed that:
Article I
The conflict between them and
in the Middle East shall not be resolved by military force but by
peaceful means.
The Agreement concluded by
the parties on 18 January 1974, within the framework of the Geneva
Peace Conference, constituted a first step towards a just and durable
peace according to the provisions of Security Council Resolution 338
of 22 October 1973.
They are determined to reach
a final and just peace settlement by means of negotiations called for
by Security Council Resolution 338, this Agreement being a significant
step towards that end.
Article II
The parties hereby undertake
not to resort to the threat or use of force or military blockade
against each other.
Article III
The parties shall continue
scrupulously to observe the cease-fire on land, sea and air and to
refrain from all military or para-military actions against each other.
The parties also confirm that the obligations contained in the annex
and, when concluded, the Protocol shall be an integral part of this
Agreement.
Article IV
A. The military forces of the
parties shall be deployed in accordance with the following principles:
(1) All Israeli forces shall
be deployed east of the lines designated as lines J and M on the
attached map.
(2) All Egyptian forces shall
be deployed west of the line designated as line E on the attached map.
(3) The area between the
lines designated on the attached map as lines E and F and the area
between the lines designated on the attached map as lines J and K
shall be limited in armament and forces.
(4) The limitations on
armament and forces in the areas described by paragraph (3) above
shall be agreed as described in the attached annex.
(5) The zone between the
lines designated on the attached map as lines E and J will be a buffer
zone. In this zone the United Nations Emergency Force will continue to
perform its functions as under the Egyptian-Israeli Agreement of 18
January 1974.
(6) In the area south from
line E and west from line M, as defined on the attached map, there
will be no military forces, as specified in the attached annex.
B. The details concerning the
new lines, the redeployment of the forces and its timing, the
limitation on armaments and forces, aerial reconnaissance, the
operation of the early warning and surveillance installations and the
use of the roads, the United Nations functions and other arrangements
will all be in accordance with the provisions of the annex and map
which are an integral part of this Agreement and of the protocol which
is to result from negotiations pursuant to the annex and which, when
concluded, shall become an integral part of this Agreement.
Article V
The United Nations Emergency
Force is essential and shall continue its functions and its mandate
shall be extended annually.
Article VI
The parties hereby establish
a joint commission for the duration of this Agreement. It will
function under the aegis of the chief co-ordinator of the United
Nations peace-keeping missions in the Middle East in order to consider
any problem arising from this Agreement and to assist the United
Nations Emergency Force in the execution of its mandate. The joint
commission shall function in accordance with procedures established in
the Protocol.
Article VII
Non-military cargoes destined
for or coming from Israel shall be permitted through the Suez Canal.
Article VIII
This Agreement is regarded by
the parties as a significant step toward a just and lasting peace. It
is not a final peace agreement.
The parties shall continue
their efforts to negotiate a final peace agreement within the
framework of the Geneva peace conference in accordance with Security
Council Resolution 338.
Article IX
This Agreement shall enter
into force upon signature of the Protocol and remain in force until
superseded by a new agreement.
ANNEX TO THE EGYPT-ISRAEL
AGREEMENT
Within five days after the
signature of the Egypt-Israel Agreement, representatives of the two
parties shall meet in the military working group of the Middle East
peace conference at Geneva to begin preparation of a detailed Protocol
for the implementation of the Agreement. The working group will
complete the Protocol within two weeks. In order to facilitate
preparation of the Protocol and implementation of the agreement, and
to assist in maintaining the scrupulous observance of the cease-fire
and other elements of the Agreement, the two parties have agreed on
the following principles, which are an integral part of the Agreement,
as guidelines for the working group.
1. DEFINITIONS OF LINES AND AREAS
The deployment lines, areas of limited forces and
armaments, buffer zones, the area south from line E and west from line
M, other designated areas, road sections for common use and other
features referred to in article IV of the Agreement shall be as
indicated on the attached map (1:100,000 - United States edition).
2. BUFFER ZONES
(A) Access to the buffer zones will be controlled
by the United Nations Emergency Force, according to procedures to be
worked out by the working group and the United Nations Emergency
Force.
(B) Aircraft of either party will be permitted to
fly freely up to the forward line of that party. Reconnaissance
aircraft of either party may fly up to the middle line of the buffer
zone between E and J on an agreed schedule.
(C) In the buffer zone, between lines E and J,
there will be established under article IV of the Agreement an early
warning system entrusted to United States civilian personnel as
detailed in a separate proposal, which is a part of this Agreement.
(D) Authorized personnel shall have access to the
buffer zone for transit to and from the early warning system; the
manner in which this is carried out shall be worked out by the working
group and the United Nations Emergency Force.
3. AREA SOUTH OF LINE E AND WEST OF LINE M
(A) In this area, the United Nations Emergency
Force will assure that there are no military or para-military forces
of any kind, military fortifications and military installations; it
will establish checkpoints and have the freedom of movement necessary
to perform this function.
(B) Egyptian civilians and third country civilian
oil field personnel shall have the right to enter, exit from, work and
live in the above indicated area, except for buffer zones 2A, 2B and
the United Nations posts. Egyptian civilian police shall be allowed in
the area to perform normal civil police functions among the civilian
population in such number and with such weapons and equipment as shall
be provided for in the Protocol.
(C) Entry to and exit from the area, by land, by
air or by sea, shall be only through United Nations Emergency Force
checkpoints. The United Nations Emergency Force shall also establish
checkpoints along the road, the dividing line and at either points,
with the precise locations and number to be included in the Protocol.
(D) Access to the airspace and the coastal area
shall be limited to unarmed Egyptian civilian vessels and unarmed
civilian helicopters and transport planes involved in the civilian
activities of the area as agreed by the working group.
(E) Israel undertakes to leave intact all currently
existing civilian installations and infrastructures.
(F) Procedures for use of the common sections of
the coastal road along the Gulf of Suez shall be determined by the
working group and detailed in the Protocol.
4. AERIAL SURVEILLANCE
There shall be a continuation of aerial
reconnaissance missions by the United States over the areas covered by
the Agreement (the area between lines F and K), following the same
procedures already in practice. The missions will ordinarily be
carried out at a frequency of one mission every 7-10 days, with either
party or the United Nations Emergency Force empowered to request an
earlier mission. The United States Government will make the mission
results available expeditiously to Israel, Egypt and the chief
coordinator of the United Nations peace-keeping missions in the Middle
East.
5. LIMITATION OF FORCES AND ARMAMENTS
(A) Within the areas of, limited forces and
armaments (the areas between lines J and K and lines E and F) the
major limitations shall be as follows:
(1) Eight (8) standard infantry battalions.
(2) Seventy-five (75) tanks.
(3) Seventy-two (72) artillery pieces, including
heavy mortars (i.e. with caliber larger than 120 mm), whose range
shall not exceed twelve (12) km.
(4) The total number of personnel shall not exceed
eight thousand (8,000).
(5) Both parties agree not to station or locate in
the area weapons which can reach the line of the other side.
(6) Both parties agree that in the areas between
line A (of the disengagement agreement of 18 January 1974) and line E
they will construct no new fortifications or installations for forces
of a size greater than that agreed herein.
(B) The major limitations beyond the areas of
limited forces and armament will be:
(1) Neither side will station nor locate any weapon
in areas from which they can reach the other line.
(2) The parties will not place anti-aircraft
missiles within an area of ten (10) kilometres east of line K and west
of line F, respectively.
(C) The United Nations Emergency Force will conduct
inspections in order to ensure the maintenance of the agreed
limitations within these areas.
6. PROCESS OF IMPLEMENTATION
The detailed implementation and timing of the
redeployment of forces, turnover of oil fields, and other arrangements
called for by the Agreement, annex and Protocol shall be determined by
the working group, which will agree on the stages of this process,
including the phased movement of Egyptian troops to line E and Israeli
troops to line J. The first phase will be the transfer of the oil
fields and installations to Egypt. This process will begin within two
weeks from the signature of the Protocol with the introduction of the
necessary technicians, and it will be completed no later than eight
weeks after it begins. The details of the phasing will be worked out
in the military working group.
Implementation of the redeployment shall be
completed within five months after signature of the Protocol.
Proposal
In connexion with the early warning system referred
to in article IV of the Agreement between Egypt and Israel concluded
on this date and as an integral part of that Agreement (hereafter
referred to as the basic Agreement), the United States proposes the
following:
1. The early warning system to be established in
accordance with article IV in the area shown on the map attached to
the basic agreement will be entrusted to the United States. It shall
have the following elements:
A. There shall be two surveillance stations to
provide strategic early warning, one operated by Egyptian and one
operated by Israeli personnel. Their locations are shown on the map
attached to the basic Agreement. Each station shall be manned by not
more than 250 technical and administrative personnel. They shall
perform the functions of visual and electronic surveillance only
within their stations.
B. In support of these stations, to provide
tactical early warning and to verify access to them, three watch
stations shall be established by the United States in the Mitla and
Giddi Passes as will be shown on the map attached to the basic
Agreement. These stations shall be operated by United States civilian
personnel. In support of these stations, there shall be established
three unmanned electronic sensor fields at both ends of each Pass and
in the general vicinity of each station and the roads leading to and
from those stations.
2. The United States civilian personnel shall
perform the following duties in connexion with the operation and
maintenance of these stations.
A. At the two surveillance stations described in
paragraph 1 A. above, United States civilian personnel will verify the
nature of the operations of the stations and all movement into and out
of each station and will immediately report any detected divergency
from its authorized role of visual and electronic surveillance to the
parties to the basic Agreement and to the United Nations Emergency
Force.
B. At each watch station described in paragraph 1
B. above, the United States civilian personnel will immediately report
to the parties to the basic Agreement and to the United Nations
Emergency Force any movement of armed forces, other than the United
Nations Emergency Force, into either Pass and any observed
preparations for such movement.
C. The total number of United States civilian
personnel assigned to functions under this proposal shall not exceed
200. Only civilian personnel shall be assigned to functions under this
proposal.
3. No arms shall be maintained at the stations and
other facilities covered by this proposal, except for small arms
required for their protection.
4. The United States personnel serving the early
warning system shall be allowed to move freely within the area of the
system.
5. The United States and its personnel shall be
entitled to have such support facilities as are reasonably necessary
to perform their functions provided for in the United Nations
Emergency Force Agreement of 13 February 1957.
6. The United States personnel shall be immune from
local criminal, civil, tax and customs jurisdiction and may be
accorded any other specific privileges and immunities provided for in
the United Nations Emergency Force Agreement of 13 February 1957.
7. The United States affirms that it will continue
to perform the functions described above for the duration of the basic
Agreement.
8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
proposal, the United States may withdraw its personnel only if it
concludes that their safety is jeopardized or that continuation of
their role is no longer necessary. In the latter case the parties to
the basic Agreement will be informed in advance in order to give them
the opportunity to make alternative arrangements. If both parties to
the basic Agreement request the United States to conclude its role
under this proposal, the United States will consider such requests
conclusive.
9. Technical problems including the location of the
watch stations will be worked out through consultation with the United
States.
Sources: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |