Four Americans wounded in last Thursday’s bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut were airlifted yesterday to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv after the U.S. accepted an Israeli offer to treat wounded American servicemen.
A hospital spokesmen said that the four Americans will be discharged within a day or two. The spokesman said that the force of the explosion punctured the eardrums of the four. They also suffered shrapnel wounds and cuts and bruises.
Arthur Berger, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said “We are grateful” for the Israeli offer to treat the victims of the bombing and to make all medical facilities available if needed. He said the four servicemen were flown by U.S. Navy helicopters from Beirut to Ben Gurion Airport.
The decision by the U.S. to accept Israel’s offer was in sharp contrast with its rejection of a similar offer after the October 1983 bombing of the U.S. marine headquarters in Beirut in which 241 servicemen were killed and some 80 were wounded. At that time the wounded were airlifted to West Germany for treatment.
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