Commandos Raid Army Post 47 Miles Inside Egypt; State Department Deplores Raid

Helicopter-borne Israeli commandos raided and shelled an Egyptian Army post 47 miles inside Egypt last night and returned safely to their base after destroying two Egyptian armored personnel carriers rushing re-enforcements to the camp. An Israeli military correspondent who accompanied the commandos said direct hits were scored on both vehicles, blowing them up and killing their occupants. Each of the armored cars reportedly carried four or five soldiers. The target was identified as an Egyptian Army administration headquarters base near Bir Gharelda, midway between the Egyptian coastal defense base at Ras Zafarana on the Gulf of Suez and the Nile River. According to an Israeli military spokesman the main commando force shelled the camp with mortars, scoring direct hits on a motor pool and barracks. A smaller commando unit set up the ambush that destroyed the two armored cars. The commandos returned safely to their base, believed to be in the occupied Sinal peninsula. The military spokesman said they were greeted at the base by Israel’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Haim Bar Lev who congratulated the soldiers on their successful mission, which he said was carried out swiftly and according to plan. Cairo claimed today that Egyptian forces drove off the Israeli commandos before they could cause casualties or damage. (In Washington, State Department spokesman Carl Bartch said today in response to a question on the Department’s attitude toward the Israeli raid into Egypt, “Our attitude is well known. We have and do and will deplore all cease-fire violations.”)

Israel Air Force jets attacked terrorist bases on the southern slopes of Mt. Hermon for the second consecutive day today and returned safely to their bases. An Israeli civilian was wounded by Egyptian gunfire in the Suez Canal zone today. Corp. Moshe Neulinger, 33, of Migdal Haemek, was killed yesterday in a Syrian ambush in the Golan Heights south of Kuneitra. Neulinger, the father of three children, was driving a tank truck, which was set afire by bazooka shells and small arms. A military spokesman said Israeli forces fired on the fleeing Syrian ambushers. Syrian artillery opened fire to cover their retreat and an exchange of fire between Israeli and Syrian forces went on for some time, the spokesman reported. In Tripoli, Libya, yesterday, the chiefs of state of five Arab nations joined in a pledge to continue warfare against Israel. President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt declared there would be no cease-fire with Israel. The others joining him in the pledge were Presidents Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr of Iraq and Noureddin Al-Atassi of Syria, King Hussein of Jordan and Premier Muammer Qadhaffi of Libya. They came to Tripoli last week ostensibly to celebrate the withdrawal of the last American troops from the Wheelus Air Force Base and stayed to hold an impromptu Arab summit conference which was reportedly concerned with coordinating military activities against Israel and action against the United States should it supply Israel with more warplanes.