6 Arab Saboteurs Killed, Israeli Wounded in Jordan Valley Clash

Six Arab saboteurs were killed and one Israeli soldier was wounded slightly in a clash in the Jordan Valley today. Six saboteurs were captured by the Israeli forces, including a wounded man.

(Reports from Amman said that two Jordanians were killed and six others, including a woman, were wounded in two artillery duels between Jordanian and Israeli forces last night. According to a Jordanian military spokesman, the Israelis opened fire with heavy artillery near the Damiyah Bridge.)

Six Israeli settlements from the Golan Heights to the northern Jordan Valley were subjected to heavy shelling by Jordanian artillery last night forcing hundreds of civilians to take refuge for hours in bomb shelters. At one point the Jordanians used their “Long Tom” long-range artillery to shell Kibbutz Masada. Shaar Hagolan, Ashdod Yaacov, Mevo Hamat. Gesher and Menahamiya but no casualties were suffered at any of the settlements. A military spokesman said the damage was mainly to electric and telephone wires which were repaired today but some buildings in the settlements were damaged. Israeli artillery returned the fire and scored hits on Shuneh, a Jordanian village that was abandoned by its inhabitants and taken over by terrorist bands.

Last night’s shelling, the first in many weeks on so large a scale and so wide a front, seemed to belie mounting rumors of some sort of accord between Israel and Jordan. Observers said those rumors have no substance and may have been put out by Amman for political reasons abroad. A military spokesman said that the shelling escalated from small arms fire which came from the East Bank of the Jordan. Targets were Israeli units on the West Bank. Soon automatic weapons and bazookas were replaced by mortars and finally by cannon. Israeli forces returned the fire, bringing up artillery only in response to Jordanian artillery, the spokesman said.