Early in February the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), after following up the withdrawing Israeli Army in the Sinai desert, had deployed units over a wide area and stationed forward elements opposite Israeli forces. A Swedish outpost was established opposite an Israeli check point near Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip. Further south, on the road from Rafah to El Auja, a Swedish unit is in position near the Egyptian-Israeli demarcation line.
At the UNEF Swedish post some 40 km from El Arish, unit members digging a moat around their tent.