A civilian worker was fatally wounded and five Israeli soldiers were injured in the Suez Canal zone during the past 24 hours, a military spokesman said. Egyptian gunners opened a new artillery barrage along the waterway today less than 12 hours after an Israeli commando raid deep into southern Egypt. Israeli sources said the Egyptians started shelling near Qantara in the canal’s northern sector and extended the firing southward. Cairo claimed that “heavy” losses” were inflicted on Israeli forces. The Israeli civilian worker was hit in an earlier Egyptian bombardment of a group of workers north of Port Tewfik. Three soldiers were injured when their car hit a mine north of Qantara and two others were wounded by shell fire.
An Israeli patrol was attacked this morning near Gesher in the northern Beisan Valley. The fire was returned and there were no casualties. An Israeli soldier died today of wounds he suffered in a clash with saboteurs south of the Dead Sea on Sunday.
Egyptian artillery bombardment of the Qantara area delayed the transfer of 54 Egyptian citizens from the east bank of the canal to the west bank under United Nations and Red Cross auspices. The transfer was held up for an hour by Egyptian gunners who refused to observe a cease-fire despite protests by the UN and Red Cross officials. When the shelling finally stopped, the Egyptian civilians crossed the canal and a group of 86 Palestinians came to the east bank for transfer to the Gaza Strip and El Arish. The Egyptians resumed shelling as soon as the transfers were completed, a military spokesman said.
Beirut sources said today that Lebanese troops clashed with Palestinian guerrillas only six miles from the Lebanon-Israel border. The reports said the fighting occurred when several hundred guerrillas attempted to set up bases near the convergence of the Lebanese, Syrian and Israeli frontiers. No details were given but shooting was reported. The clash was said to have been an extension of earlier fighting between Lebanese soldiers and guerrillas of the Syrian-backed Al Saiq (Thunderbolt) group. Lebanese newspapers said that Al Saiq bands besieged an Army unit near Hasbayh, 40 miles from Beirut yesterday. The Government of Premier Rashdid Karami fell last week after three days of bloody rioting by students and Palestinian refugees over the issue of Government support for the guerrillas.
(British Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart met separately with the Israeli and Egyptian ambassadors in London today to express concern over the continuing exchanges of fire across the Suez Canal. He warned that the shooting endangered peace and could undermine the search for a settlement. He urged both sides to observe the cease-fire. Israeli Ambassador Aharon Remez reportedly told Mr. Stewart that Israeli policy was to observe the cease-fire and that responsibility for its violation rested entirely with the Arab governments.)
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