Israeli Interceptors Shoot Down Two Egyptian Sukhoi-7 Fighter Bombers

Israeli interceptors shot down two Egyptian Sukhoi-7 fighter-bombers this afternoon during an Egyptian air attack on Israeli positions in the northern section of the Suez Canal zone and the Gulf of Suez. They were the 90th and 91st Egyptian planes downed by Israel since the June, 1967 war. They were seen crashing near the Great Bitter Lake. All Israeli planes returned safely to their bases. There were no Israeli casualties from the Egyptian raid. Israeli settlements in the Beisan Valley came under heavy shelling from Jordan last night. An 18 year-old American girl. Suzi Fider, of New Orleans, was slightly wounded by shell fragments at Kibbutz Massadah. She was released from a hospital following treatment. Mortar shells also fell on Shar Hagolan, Ashdod Yaacov and Ein Gev. on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee where 200 persons were attending a music festival. No other casualties were reported.

The upsurge of shooting from Jordan was regarded as a demonstration to substantiate statements made Friday in Amman by the Jordanian Foreign Minister Muhammed Rafai that the cease-fire has ceased to exist. Israelis noted that the latest shellings occurred while repairs were being made to Jordan’s major irrigation project, the Ghor canal, in preparation for the dry months ahead. Israel has refrained from interfering with the repairs on a pledge from Jordan that settlements along the demarcation line will be left in peace. As in the past, the pledge has not been honored and there was speculation here that Israel would take retaliatory action if the shooting continues. The renewed shooting on the Jordanian front coincided with a resurgence of Egyptian military activity in the Suez Canal zone which has claimed the lives of 12 Israeli soldiers and wounded 22 since April 10. Five Israeli soldiers were killed in the past 24 hours, two of them in a commando ambush in the northern sector of the canal zone Sunday night and three by Egyptian artillery fire in the central and southern sectors yesterday.

HEAVY ACTION EXPECTED ON EGYPTIAN FRONT FOLLOWING COMPARATIVE LULL DURING WINTER

A military spokesman said Sgt. David Sabah, 20, of Jerusalem and Sgt. Housein Shibli, a Bedouin, aged 25, were fatally wounded in the commando raid in which three other Israeli soldiers were hit. One Egyptian soldier was wounded and eight others are presumed to have drowned when the boat in which they were recrossing ‘he canal was sunk by Israeli gunfire. The victims of yesterday’s artillery fire were 1st Lt. Michael Czasnik, 20, of Jerusalem and Lance Corp. Abraham Israelowitz, 20, of Ashdod. The third soldier killed was not identified although his family has been notified.

Israeli military sources warned that heavy action can be expected on the Egyptian front following a comparative lull during the winter months. They said the Egyptians were preparing for a new war with Israel but the Israeli Air Force will block them with raids on “selected targets.” During the last days of Passover Egyptian aircraft bombed El Arish in the northern Sinai and staged two commando raids, one at midnight Saturday and the other Sunday night. According to Israeli reports, they lost two Ilyushin II bombers over El Arish and suffered casualties in the commando operations. Meanwhile the West Bank town of Nablus remained under curfew for the sixth day following a grenade explosion in the market place that injured 26 persons last Wednesday. Six of them were women tourists from the U.S., Europe, South America and South Africa. Mayor Haj Maazous Al Masri, of Nablus, sent a letter to the Israeli military governor dissociating himself from the terrorists. Several suspects are under interrogation.