Three fresh incidents of Egyptian aggression against Israel were reported here today by a military spokesman for Israel. In all, the clashes, attritubed to Egyptian infiltrators, cost the lives of two Israelis, the wounding of a third man, severe damage to an important bridge, and the loss of a herd of cattle.
The first of the week-end atrocities occurred in the southernmost sector of Israel, near the new port of Eilath. There, Egyptians planted high explosives under the girders supporting a bridge between Eilath and Ein-Netafim, putting the bridge out of commission.
Near the demilitarized area of the Gaza strip, along the Egyptian border, Israelis found a Jewish tractor driver murdered. The driver was from the collective settlement of Ruhama. He had been hit by four bullets from Sten guns.
Along another section of the border, Egyptian infiltrators attacked a group of Israeli Bedouins, killing one, wounding a second, and stealing 17 head of cattle belonging to the Bedouins. All the incidents were reported by the Israelis to the Egypt Israel Mixed Armistice Commission.
MAC CENSURES ISRAEL ON JORDAN COMPLAINT
Meanwhile, the Jordan-Israel Mixed Armistice Commission voted a resolution terming Israel guilty of a “flagrant breach” of the armistice agreement for an alleged attack on the Jordan village of Beit Liqyia. The attack is said to have taken place last Thursday morning. According to the Commission’s censure motion–voted in the absence of the Israeli representatives who have boycotted this commission since last March–the attack against the Jordan village was carried out by a strong force, numbering about 800 Israelis.
One group of the Israelis allegedly attacked the village itself, blowing up its fence with torpedoes. Another force, it was charged, provided covering fire from the hills near Beit Liqyia, while a third force acted as reserves to the northward. When Arab Legionnaires sent reinforcements from the north, the Commission declared, the Israelis blew up the Legion truck with a mine, killed two of the Legionnaires, wounded three more, and took three others prisoners.
The Israelis, yesterday, turned five Jordanians over to the Jordanian authorities at the Mandelbaum Gate here. There was no statement as to where or how these five had been captured. An Israeli spokesman said the return of the five Jordanians was made with the hope that the Jordanians would return a wounded Jewish soldier whom they captured during a clash at Azzun, five miles inside Jordan, last June. The return of the five Jordanians, another Israeli said, also should “impress Jordan with the fact that the real purpose of any Israeli attacks inside Jordan is to put an end to incursions from Jordan.”
Addressing a women’s graduating class of an Israel Army Officers School, Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Moshe Dayan said today, “every settlement will become a fortress in the day of danger, and no foreign country, no embargo, no policy of balance of power will prevent us from strengthening our army and keeping it on the alert.
He declared: “Our army’s fighting efficiency cannot be bought with foreign currency. Furthermore, our military strength is not always or entirely dependent on arms.”
The graduation of today’s women’s officer class, he said, is important not only because it adds to the country’s military strength but also because “you women will become the wives and mothers who will help shape the morale of your husbands and children” in defense of Israel.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
