User:John Z/drafts/International Waterways and the Arab-Israeli conflict

For the first thirty years of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the control and usage of international waterways, in particular the Straits of Tiran and the Suez Canal was a major area of dispute. With the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, these legal issues have become of historical importance.

History

Suez

From May 15, 1948, after Israel declared independence and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war began, Egypt began searching all ships going through the Suez canal suspected of transporting goods to Israel. On February 6, 1950 Egypt issued a list of contraband goods subject to seizure on neutral ships.

Straits

Egypt started visiting and searching ships going through the Straits of Tiran in the summer of 1950, but between 1951 and Early 1955, only 3 of 267 vessels were searched and no ship or goods were seized. Israel's port of Eilat had not been yet built, so incidents were rare. The main commodity going through the straits was cement and other commodities used to build the port, which Israel

Eilat's port was only completed in Jun, 1952 and only became usable by oceangoing vessels in March, 1956. The oil pipeline from Eilat to refineries in Haifa was constructed in 1957-58, so oil was not shipped through it until after the Suez Crisis.

International Law

Egyptian Position

Britain and Egypt exchanged letters in July 1951 whereby Britain officially accepted Egypt's right to visit and search in the Gulf. (Khoury, p.209)

Israeli Position

Gulf of Aqaba and Strait of Tiran: Troubled Waters Carl F. Salans United States Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 94, No. 12, Dec. 1968, pp. 54-62

Some Legal Problems of International Waterways, with Particular Reference to the Straits of Tiran and the Suez Canal The Moder Law Review Vol. 31, 1968, pp.153-164

Majid Khadduri Closure of the Suez Canal to Israeli Shipping Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 33, 1968, pp.147-57

John Quigley Palestine and Israel, Durham 1990 p.165-7

Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (ed.) The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967, Evanston 1970 (next two)

Sharabi Prelude to War

Sharif Bassiouni Some Legal Aspects of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

B. Selak A Consideration of the Legal Status of the Gulf of Aqaba AJIL, vol. 52, 1958, p.646

Leo Gross, The Geneva Conference on the Law of the Sea and the Right of Innocent Passage Through the Gulf of Aqaba, AJIL, vol. 53, 1959

Fred J. Khouri The Arab-Israeli Dilemma