Arab terrorists were active again on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, but no casualties were suffered, an Army spokesman reported today. On the West Bank, an hour-long exchange of fire took place when Jordanians shot at an Israeli patrol south of the Beisan Valley settlement of Tirat Zvi. In Gaza, a handgrenade was thrown into a coffee house on the main street, but exploded harmlessly outside, causing minor damage, Near Gaza town, an army truck struck a mine, but neither damage nor casualties were reported.
Security sources said today that the arrest of 56 terrorists in the West Bank area last week wrecked plans for widespread acts of terrorism against Christian pilgrims coming to the holy places during the Yule holiday.
The report came against a background of continuing Arab guerilla actions in the West Bank sector. In the latest incident, an Arab infiltrator was killed when an Israeli patrol clashed with a group of seven intruders, after a number of mortar shells exploded near Yad Hanna in the Samaria district, east of Hadera, There were no Israeli casualties. Security forces began a hunt for the attackers, and ran into the seven intruders who were seeking to penetrate eastward. Six others made good their escape. Terrorists have previously used mortar fire against civilian areas.
The security sources said that the 56 arrested terrorists, all members of Ahmed Shukairy’s Palestine Liberation organization, had planned to carry out a number of incidents in the Bethlehem area against Christian pilgrims, and that it was for this reason that a large number of the intruders had been concentrated in the area. The intruders had found shelter in a number of villages to avoid being conspicuous as a large group in a single place.
The suspects included a number of former officers of Palestinian units in the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian armies. Officials said a 60-mm mortar and a Soviet-made assault gun were found near the body of the slain Arab terrorist near Yad Hanna.
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