Syria has established a maritime fedayeen unit under its Navy command, according to reports reaching here concurrent with reports that Arab terrorists are contemplating sabotage against Israel through small naval units. The Israeli Navy, alerted to such a possibility, has instituted preventive operations.
The Syrian Navy is almost negligible in the deployment of naval forces in the Mediterranean. Damascus apparently feels it is wiser to create a small guerrilla unit for maritime action as a substitute for naval units in the war against Israel.
The terrorists recently increased their naval units and are known to possess some motorboats and possibly speedboats. They have bases inside populated coastal villages and townships in Lebanon and Syria, one of them inside the Rashidiyeh refugee camp in the Tzor area of Lebanon. Some of the maritime terrorist bases were attacked in Israel’s New Year’s raids, and an Israeli boat intercepted and destroyed a terrorist boat that had fired on it.
Meanwhile, reports from the Golan Heights said that a significant movement of troops and equipment is visible along the Syrian border, with reinforcements pouring in. This reported movement may be connected with reports spread by Syria and the Soviet Union, of an allegedly forthcoming Israeli attack on Syria.
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.
