Israel Air Force jets attacked four terrorist strongholds in Syria this morning and, for the first time, bombed a Syrian Army camp this afternoon after Syrian artillery opened fire on Israeli positions in the southern Golan Heights, apparently in retaliation for the morning’s air attacks. All Israeli planes returned safely to their bases.
The targets of the morning raids were identified as terrorist bases in or near villages within 7-12 kilometers of Damascus. The afternoon target was El Kaleh, an armored unit and logistics command post near the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Gen. David Elazar, the Israel Army Chief of Staff, said the morning raids struck two El Fatah encampments, one of the Syrian-backed Al Saiqa terrorist movement and another of the Popular Front organization. He said the pilots reported direct hits which explained reports from Damascus that 45 terrorists were killed and 70 wounded. Elazar said the Israeli jets encountered no anti-aircraft fire nor were Syrian planes sent up against them. The morning and afternoon raids by Israel each lasted 15 minutes.
Today’s Israeli air strikes were the second against Syrian targets this month. The first occurred Oct. 15. Officially they were described as part of Israel’s continuing policy of attacking terrorist bases at regular intervals. But the general feeling here was that the assaults were motivated by yesterday’s release of the three Munich terrorists by West Germany. The villages hit in the morning raids were identified as Dummah, Ein Sukhna, Harnah and Ein Hassab.
Syrian artillery opened fire this afternoon along a section of the cease-fire line on the Golan Heights. The attack began several hours after Damascus announced the Israeli air raids. Israeli artillery returned the fire. One Israeli soldier was wounded in the shelling.
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.
