MIDDLE EAST SITUATION REPORT NUMBER 44 (AS OF 1630 EDT)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: October 16, 1973
• Content Type: MEMO

? - --~`~ `?~ ~ ?@25X1
__ s__ --. No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
CEIVTT~.A.L .INTFSLLIGENCE AGENCX
~,6 C~otobea^ 1973
INTELLIGENCE ~MEM,OR7~.t~IDUM
M~DDLIa 1;1~$T
:S~.tuat~.oa~ Report Number 44
(1-.s of 1630 EDTI
TIDE MIL1T.i~RX S1T[3ATZUN
State Dept
review
completed
. .1. The Isiaeli force. that .crossQd tha-Su
aL- Great Bitter I,a3se ear~.y today apparent~~:~r ha
ob~ect3.ve the raiding of Egyptian SA,M and .anti
? tflries. ?n tie west hank. The 'force appears to
an armored battalion supported by infantry tro
Egyptians claim to have engaged i:he Israeli f?
armor and mechan3~ed infantry un3,ts and by ear
' to have inflicted I~c~avy :losses Qn the I~sxaelis
Isr$eli'Air Force vgntinues to pound. targets a
Said, and bath.aides have conducted iimitQd ai
support. of ground forces ~.n the Sinai.
2. Heavy fighting cvntinu~d late today i
sector of f:he Syrian fr?nt with th.4 Israelis. c
have inflicted Pxeavy .],osses on 5yxian, Jordani
arnt?r elem~:nts. Both s~deg coi~duvted air stri
Port of them farces?~ith the zsraelis cla~.tnin
.inflicted further losses on.the already badly
? Syrian 1~.ir T'arce. Tel. AVi.Y eZaisns that its st
to attaclc the farces of other Arab stat?s one.
arriv~a on the Syrian front in order to prevent
units from sating up coordinated operations.
~ Caxzal north
as its .
x?aft ~~aat- '
be sma~.l--
ps . The
ce with
y afternoon
The .
~ound Poi: t
strikes in
the central'
aiming,ta
n, and Tzagi
es in sup-
to have
,aided
ategy : is. '
y ane as they
the Arab '
MORI
003326488
?25X1
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0 ,,,,,,,,
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
~. Th? Isxaeli.s conta,nue to? re~aort that they have
.crossed the Suez Canal saac~ are fic~h.ting ox~ tYxo west ban1G.
~n xsraeli situat:i,on, report~~ issu?d dt, 1.G00 hours ~.ocal? .
time (1~4a4Z3 stated that ~sraali foxces attacked tlxe .
E~gyptiaz~, 21.~t 7~rmored Div~.s~.on and ? the 16tih Infantr~r 'Division
at the northern edge of ~ Gx'oat D3,tter Lake ea~:'ly thin mogxring,
and ci~assec~ the cans.l with 20 tanks i:o ?bevexscair with. ?E;he
object~.ve oP ~ raatding Egynt~.an SA,M and antiaircra...Pt? batteries
on .the west bank. .
4. A milita~:y cvmmun3,que issued i,n Ca.ix'o has confirmed
the ,crossing. Accorc~~,ng to the ? E9Y'Ptians, a "ferocx~ius
?battle" Was raging with armoxad, infantry, and mechanized
iz~Pantxy units gartic~.gati~:g. T1~e Egyptian ~.ir Farce was
said to be ass~.sting the gxound txaops. '
~. The x~umbr~x of Israeli ta,nlcs reported? to laavo crossed
suggests that the f'oxce oons~,sts of an a,rz~tored battalion
su orted b inPantr trop s.
6. According't?a seniox Egyptian de~cense official
the l~gy~~atians had xepuls?d i:h,o Israeli ~a.tt$ck by ?~.30t3 ~.ocal
time ~ 12th 0 ~ ~ ' and denaLed that any s ~,gn~.f icant xs rae 1,i force
had crossed the car~a].. 'the E9YP~?~-ans c~.a.~,med that they
employed a near tactic in th~.s battle; wi,thdra~ainy prior
to engagem?nt. The Egynt~.an''b~:igade on the s4uth~rn f~.anlC,
r~portedl~ w~,thdrew~ several. kilometers west of its origa,nal
source, a.ndicate that the Israe~.3, Force suffered 404 casual-
;ti+ss~ and ~.os,t 32 tanks and three amphibious vehic~.es..
position, while another bric~ada on the nortlx?rn Plank
"butt~+n~-hooked" and came in behind the advancing ~tsr~eli ?
units. Initial. Egyptian? field, xeZaorta according to the
7.. other ?axr actzv~.ty reported along the southern
fra~it ,
.
3.ndicates that the Israelis hit targets around Port; Said
again th~.s a.l;ternoon. Egyptian SAt4s reportPd~,y P~.~'ed can ~e
attacking, aixcxazt a.nc~ one parachute c~as seen opening--- ' ,
indicating a, ~axobable lsrael3. Loss of an aircraft, Both?
the Israelis and the >rgyptians? f lec~ lim~,ted strikes' in the
Sinai th~,s afternoon in support. o# grciur~d operata.ons .
? ~t ~
:,
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
S. The 1.6~p xsraeli :~ituataLon zeport stators t~xat th.e
~srae~.a, air E'orae attiacked 1:he Eg~rpti.an a~i~.~fi,e~.d. at ~3'ad~. Al
3ai~dal~. today, sYsooti.ng down two M.1G~21s and aga~.n attacked
the radar station at 8a~.tim. Tha,s same s'eport indicates that
the xsrae~.i Davy shelled. coastal radar sites .east and wes t
of Axexand~:ia aurixag..th.e pact 2~ houxs. No ~srael3. lasses
wer~a reported. ~,n ~gypt~.an t~omar miss~.le l~cat was reported
to have been sQt: a~ixe w}~,en one of its own zn3.ssi,~.es. ~.gnit~d
during launch. ~ y '
25X1 S'~RxAtd ~RUrT'~
. ~ . Tank t~attxt~s cont~,nue?d ~,nto . th%s of ternoon in ?the .
cQZatral sector of the Syxi,an front, ~~,ear I~~..Y~arrah. Azx
xsrae~.i military spokesmani c~,a3a~ted that U~ mid-afternoon
abc3ut 30 Syrian, 3CI ~'ordaniarz, and. 6th xxagi tanzts hack ve$n
destroyed. He also sa3.d that the Syz^ians: fxer~r n~:azly 3~
sort3.es aga~.rist Israe~.~, ground forces.,? bi~t that s3:x of the
at?tacka.ng aircraft were. s}zot down. xhe rsraal~. also claimed
that the Iraqi unit?waa "bad~.y chet~ed up" and that the
?Jordaniaxz un~,t ratixed to .its c-rig~.na~. starting point at '
Jas izct
10. 11n Israelz spokesman. described Tel Av3.v's ?stratoSY
on the. syria~i front as attacking tY~e arms~r~d brigades of
other Arab states arriving at the front and destroying them..
? "p~.ecemeal" Iaofore they can establ3.sh a un~.f~.ed ~ Command,
Ho reiterated that the acquislt3.on of "real estate"~as such
is not an xsraeli. ob~QCt3,ve.
? 11. Th+r spokesman also claimed, that, according tq
Tsra+el~. intercepts, Soviet p3.lots were ferry~.rzg recently ?
assembled Nl1G~-2Is frozi~ Aleppo to Dumayr and An T~asri~re a3r~-
fields north of Damascus. 25X1.
].2 , I~ccord~.ng to (Syrian forces 3fiagt` }lava
advanced two to three m es t s~rnoon in thQ northexn~: .
sector to Te1~, ech-Claaar overlooki,ny ?the AL Qurzayti.rah-
Damascus xoad. Th.e assessment is bas~*d?on thQ .
25X1
25X1 ..
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0 _
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
25X1.
Iaaatioiz o~ Is~:aeJ,.i and Syrian ai:t~,l~.bx~y fire, hc~wevex6 and
may not, re~lQOt ~.he aetu~~. nos~,t~.ons ?f e~,ther force. ~sra~,~.i
~'i;:~ at ~'e15. eah--ChaarP the dbnt.i.nant terra~.n ~eati~re ~.n tha
are esis that Syrian forces may~v~ oceupy~.nq ~.t. ~'he
,,.~,+-.S.a ~..~,., ~. ..~_ _ ... _ __ _ _ .. _ _ _
ear sa en,t by using xoutee north, of~the xoad e'venu~~the
Syrians do .hold ~'~el~~. ech-Ghaar.
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
 ' No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
1G. There has been I.a.,t=tlr~ change. 3.n 'the pc~siticans of
~aviet camh~-trar~ts in the Med~.t+err~,x~e,~n. SDV~.et w~,rshiFs
aor~tir~ue to rema.a~n near the USS independence, sc~~zth of Cx~~e.
ShS.ps S.n th3s Force inc~.ude tha fl~,gslaip ox th.e Soviet
Mediterranean Squadron-~-a submarine t~:nder-plus a destroyer
' . and a cru is ex .
d~I>rI' ftEACT7CON TO US SU~'FORT I'OR 15RAE~
19. Save,?t madia~ conta.nue tv issue brief, non-polemical
reports on US response tio? the con~7.~.et. A TASS dispatch
this aEtornoon nol:ed that the US helicalter carrier.~wo lima
Will depart for the Meditexxanean w~.th 2,ggq~marines. TASS
said the shig will. Fie leaving fxom North Caral'ina, thus
implyS,ng that it w~.l~. L?ake some tame to reach ~ ~,ts destination.
A Ss~viet domestic xadio broadcast repeated a Washa.n tr~n Post
report that the US will supply xsrael with Phantoms an .
I~2~G0 tanks .
OIL DELTVl~R~]S
2b. The 4rar has 3.nterrupted same. Middle Eastern ~-il '
shipments to Europe. 111 of thc~ pipeline terminals i.n tlXe
pastern I~ed~.terranean have been closed. The Syrian term~,zza~s
? 'haws been damaged, and high 'insuranca~rates h$ve made it '
unpra~itable ~ for tankers tv laad ~,IY Lebanon ~ and Tsrae~. , .
1~lthough liit.ixxgs o# Libyan oil have ~a.ncreased moderately .?
s3,~nce the beginning of the wax, Tripoli is imposing some... ;~ .
xeatra.ct~.ar~s on Sits. d?s?t~:natS,oil. For 4XaT(tp]?G, tankers
headed for Greece havr~ beQn refused.'d~.l on the assu~-pt3,on
..that it ~auld serve too fuel the US Sixth Fleet.. .
25X1
~? ~' "'
't . ~. '
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0 '
 _' ' . No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
25X1 _ ? "_
2~. ? .The Saviet Union and" Eastern k;uzope, :.are ?znaintaa.ning
norms]. oa.~. exports 'crf 1. ~. maL].7.ion barxels per day to ttilastern
~-urope. ii4wever, some Z4p,00p bpd of schedu]:ed delivories
fxr~m the A~iddle East and North ~fr~.ca pr?bably have now beo~
cut off. This reduetiah may forcQ a divers.ivn of So~riet
supplies from. ~~'estern to Eastexn aaurope. In th3,s event, ?
? Sweden w?uld ba thv co-~ntxy ~tvst .affected, followed by??Italy .
and Kest. Gerniany. .
. ~~. C-n the r~~.gSlts of , 7 and 8 actob4r, t;~ro ail tankers--~-
one ~~ncaxican and erne Greek-~?~under ~ charter to a LtS oil company
? tti*e?re ha~.te
d by an un~
de
tt
Ei
.
.
n
~
ed desi:xoyea^ or destroyers oft
the coast of Uj~.bou~.a~ at the entrance to the REd Sea and .
to3.c1 they were entering a war zone , 'Each, lead been ? headed for
.Ras Shulchayr on EgY'pt's Suez Gulf' coast, and each turned
back and headed 'for the Pars~.azx Gu~.f. Each sh~.p master
reported that, altl~ough he could txot identif~r the destroyer,
he bnl~.eved it to by Soviet. It ~.s moire liltiQly, how~v~r,.
tlaat thc~ d$stroyer was one of the two LgYpt~.an destroyers.
prc~se3atly lcaca.ted at ~:dr~n. ..
25X1 ~ IRAQ
. 2~. Accord~.ng to an Tsraali defense official, adds-- .
ta.onal Iraqi farces forces ara be~.ng sent car .have already
. arrived iri S r3,a . Tha farce xe ' or. tedl atncl.udes 'two armored
b r~
'ade
.g
s . ~ ~ the
.headquarters of
f
~ ?~
one o
the armored brigades is ~zow looated
? on the ?utsl~ir is of Damascus . .
25X1 SUDAN
~~' ; `Sudan has .
'54~21'~ ~., ~Q army- -roogs O par G pate n e ~ x~a war, raffort.
The force 3.s composed of infantry, paratroopers, armored units
and military pal~.ce. 1~,ntiaircraft guns, armored vehicles,
and some art.i~.lery pieces were sent w3,?th the troops.
S QI~7ALIA
~~. The Svma~.i Embassy 3.n Paxis x'eports Somalia~,is:
arranging te, send volunteers to Egypt and Syria. .
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
25X1
KUWA7CT
2~?. T'he? Kuwaiti N'ata.vna~. I?~ssemb~.y, meetiaxg a.ax clCosed
ses~3,on, dacz.ded toda~* to donate $350 mi~,~.ivn to the, ,'rArah
1,iberat~,on batt~.e." The ~,ssem}~lx.es stat~*nteaxt dad not
speci#~r which states wat11 ~:cce~,ve thc~ funds, ~a,axd the press ? .
has ,quoted infoxmQd soux'ces a.s saying ~ that the gover.~ament
wi3.1 decade lxow`~ to a~.locate the grant bet4~eeax Egypt aid 5y~;ia.
There has been no ir,di,aation that ~'vxdan wi~.l ~x~ceive anx
of the money or has lrt~t succeeded in ?ok~?ta,i,xa~ing a restoration
o~ the post-~.9.G7 xuwait.~ su}as~,dy~ ~ .
~'FDP,.X`E~~3
27. A sQni4r Fatah off3.c~,a1 stated on zl.OGtober t~xat
Fatah wi~.~. begin a ma,~vr t?xror~,st car~paagn : aga~.nst .US
nat~.onals in Uc~irut if tk~e tis inte~:venes directly in the
Middle fast. Sy "direct intervention"', tlxe offi.c~,al apparently
meant the use of US troops 3,zx the ~ight~,ng.; The Fatah of?-
. fic~.al emphasized the p].ann~,ny uses an~.y in its ini~.ial
stages. Fat;alx of#3,cia].s repoitodly ,have laeen insta~ucted to .
beg~.n obta~.nia?ac~ the names and addresses of US af'f~.cials ,and
businessmen iz~ $eixut as a base of inforntatioxa for future
as:3ass:Lnat3,vns and kidnap~,ngs . .
? 28. Saiga ch~.ef ~u?xayr .Muhsiza
stated that' hats? organizata.on.
curx:ently oes not ntand to mount terzaxi.st operations
agaa.nst US nationa~.s or installations ' 3,Y~ the M~.ddle Last.
ri~uhsin also expressed lz~.s personal opiniotx that ?tlxe other
'major fedaysen groups are comnt3.tted 'tv diraGt military coza-
'frontation with ~sxaa,l and and not currently ,p~.anningr~ ter--
xorist operations . I~uhsin sa~.c1 that the mole ?of' the fedayeen
is to prevent lrsrae~. ?froan a,ttacki.ng Sys^~ta tiax~ough southern
L~la~anon by mounting a lxold~.ng opdrat~.on agains ~ any advanc-
? ins Israeli force to buy time f'or Syrian reinforcem~:nts
to xaach the area. .
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
AN~tIrX "
? P-rxeb Reaction to .U~ . Airlift
stn spec~.~ica~.ly ~,n the current U~' arms policy. The not?
warmed that Euz.,ope would .lie the first . a~~ected by suah~ .~ .
l: Saudi ]~ral~ia toddy passed an. aide mema~,i"e. to repre-~
sentati+xes n J dcxa o~ .the Common t~iax}:et nations warning, that
t}xe Sau~tis malt reduce oil. production in response to the U5
a~.xl.3.~t to xsrae~., according to a sensitive State, Department.
eab~.e. .The a~.de menxo~.ra. to the: ESC stated' t}~.at, aced with
at ne+~d to respond ts~ tl~e -C3$ airlift, Icing ~`aysal might .find
~.t necessary to cut Back oil production unless t~,e EUro can
stages .attempt to induce a change in US ~1idc~le East pol~cy
d
gist at tl~e U5 action," stated .tha:t Fad+sai might resort'.
"somehnti~r" ~ to the use ol: the ail weapon ., j?~asud added, ' how
ever; .that Saudi Arakiia valuid ?~.ts ~relatioz~s wtlx the TJS;
which shou~.c~ give no credence to rumors that ra
lati ith
-
' '2. 'I?he ne~~yly_arrived tTS arrtbassac~o~- was treated to a
simil.ar training ire his intraductary cad,]. at the Foreign
Ministz-y," where Acting k'oz:'eiga riinistex~ I~iasud, expz~ese~Lreg =e-
~
? aria ~ ~o
.. ~as.hing,:tvrt ~woul?d ,b~ -Ia~r~az~~rrt ~ "
.. ,
~~ .
25X1
.~
- ~~
3. The>:~ hoe been litt~.e
indication of ?wl~,at ~
poi it~:c~~i -
tI~e Arab o~.~. ni3.n~,sters a>"e contemplating. a;~ tonortcn~~'r~ .~r~ri~
Q_ ___ .~ _.. _ .. _ t-.--,
Countries tt3APIrC) izY Kuwait,
1Cuwa~.t 11as been a oa n ze oycott' con?-
p. an s SuPported'~+V xxacr al7d' I;3.b~.ra: Press reann?r~-a ?~rnr,~--
. , i\MWrrLJ~1r ~..ttttl.~:a1.:~ Gilc3'G 'C11ase ministers ar11O have arrived, .
wh31e '~ack.~ow~,edging that .they "have proposals to table at
the con~ere~~ce, are .not tallc~,ng spec:lfice . ~ ?
25X1 ~ ..
~?. The Saudimedia; .~,n.? the xne.antime, have given nv
?ccavc~rac~e today to the SUS ?announcement, acrd American ~miYitary
? ?adv~.sers have met w~,tI~ mixed reactions from Saudi officers,
WI~o ]gave expz;essed, iza. an ap}aaz;az7tly restra3.ned fasl~ionr , '
' a general fa~t].ure to''underst~nd why the: US supnarts Tsra,eS,~s.
. ??oF
~
t t
e
,
or
o r
tain the tarr~.tory. oeeupied 3,n J.9b7. .
A-1
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0
25X1
 ? ~ q~'~: ~. No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/08/17 : LOC-HAK-543-2-15-0 ~; ?' ' .
25X1
7' . A s imp. ].a.r ~ unhappy xes 3.gnation sppears to be the mile
~.n? Morocco. icing iiassazl was distuxl~ed by the ?U5 decisions
whit hei el~.eves will. have tlYe effect of prolonging thc~
war. The reaatio~z o'f the Mor.occaa~ people has beasx charac~-
terxed as~"bad," Uut Moroccan,aecurity"bffici~l~ do not
.foresee s.nti.-Amoricari demonstrations , l,argel.y becsus a the
people assume that the US always supports xsrael anycray and
fee3. thaf the latest US de~ci5ion w~-s predi,ctabl,e.
~8, Lebanese Prime Minister Solh .callod tlxe ?C76? amba9(sadvr
in today owca-I~bLtx expos3,tion of~ hi,s views on the. US .
air].i~~t, taking a fr~.~endly but concerned: attitude. He
outl~.ned what hei bolievcs will. ?be "the adverse effect ok~ ?the
US action on the s ituatican in the l'~Iiddle .east and e:cpress ed
fears that irreparable damage will be., done. to Arab-American.
re~.atiorxs . lie urged US ac?~ian to. reassure tho Arabs .that
its'? pol.xeies arcs a?~ot .totally devoted to supporting zsraal and
upholding tiza .continued occupation , of ? Arab territories'. ?
e~.set~rl~.ere. ..I~~..fai ..corit~:as.tr>~d.,:~ad~ct!~s,rr~~~ticrr~