Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran (Gulf of Aqaba ) to Israeli shipping, thereby cutting off Israel’s only supply route with Asia and stopping the flow of oil from its main supplier, Iran. By international law, this was an act of war.
President Johnson tonight condemned the Arab blockade of Israel shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba as “illegal and potentially disastrous to the cause of peace…”
The purported closing of the Gulf of Aqaba has brought a new and grave dimension to the crisis. The United States considers the gulf to be an international waterway.
… Mr Johnson condemned the “hurried withdrawal” of the United Nations emergency force from Gaza and Sinai, and the “recent build-up of military forces in the area.
Israeli gunboat passing through the Straits of Tiran (Photo: Yaakov Agor/ Israeli National Photo Collection).
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