Jordan charged today that a large Israeli force crossed the border to attack a Jordanian police post in the Hebron area, ambush armed reinforcements and kill 19 Jordanians in a two-hour battle before returning to Israel. The Jordanian complaint was filed with UN headquarters here. (For more details, see P. 3)
According to Jordanian reports, an Israeli force in near-battalion strength attacked the police post at Burg al Bariya, near Hebron, about midnight. They inflicted casualties on Jordanian troops there. The Arab reports assert the Israelis blew up the police station.
When Jordanian forces rushed up in the dark to reinforce their besieged unit, they ran headlong into an Israeli ambush, the Arabs said. The Israelis then counter attacked and inflicted still further injuries on the Arabs, the complaint to the UN said, before withdrawing at about 2 A. M.
The scene of the incident was some three miles from where six Israeli soldiers were killed by Jordanian troops Monday. The Israelis charged that a UN investigation proved that the six were killed inside Israel and their bodies dragged across the border by the Jordanians.
Meanwhile, tension has spread northward along the Israel-Jordan border. Near the deserted village of Aramshe, which is cut in half by the demarcation line, a gang of some 50 Arabs attempted to ambush an Israeli border patrol moving along inside the Israel border. One policeman was wounded before the patrol escaped. The patrol avoided further casualties by making good use of the hilly terrain to cover its retreat.
The evening newspapers in Tel Aviv today published special editions headlining the Jordanian charges of the Israel attack in the Hebron area.
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