2 Israeli Soldiers Killed, 2 Wounded in an Ambush in the Jordan Valley

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and two were wounded in a gun battle with an infiltrator in the Jordan Valley at dawn today. The Israelis were on a routine patrol when they were ambushed from a dry river bed near Mehola. The infiltrator was killed by reinforcements who rushed to the scene. Mehola is in the West Bank.

The dead soldiers were identified as Sgt. Ronen Reichel, 20, of Holon, and Cpl. Shay Singer, 19, of Upper Nazareth. The wounded men were helicoptered to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem where their condition was reported satisfactory tonight. Doctors said they underwent surgery and would be discharged in a week.

The infiltrator was in civilian dress — jeans, a checkered shirt, and kefiya on his head. Documents found on his body identified him as a soldier in the Jordanian army, but Israel Defense Force sources were not certain of their authenticity. A search of the ambush area indicated the infiltrator crossed the Jordan River near a Jordanian army post.

Maj. Gen. Ehud Barak, Commander of the central region, told reporters later that it was too early to implicate the Jordanian army in the incident or to say whether Jordan has changed its policy of many years to prevent incursions against Israel from Jordanian soil. He noted that the Jordan Valley has been quiet since 1981.

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chief of Staff Gen. Moshe Levy visited the scene of the clash. An account was sent to Premier Shimon Peres who is presently visiting West Germany. The Israel Air Force attacked Palestinian terrorist bases in south Lebanon shortly after the Jordan Valley incident, apparently in response to it. (See separate story.)