A curfew was imposed tonight on rural areas of the Gaza Strip following an attempt to sabotage the newly reopened Gaza-Tel Aviv rail line and a general upsurge of terrorist acts in the Strip in recent days. Urban areas were exempted from the curfew. The Gaza-Tel Aviv railroad, suspended in the 1948 war, resumed service last Wednesday for the first time in 25 years.
The first train left Gaza station for Lod junction Wednesday morning with about 30 Arab laborers on their way to work in Israel. The rest of the seats in the nine coaches were occupied by Israeli soldiers assigned to guard the passengers. Before the train left, sappers checked the tracks for explosives. All went smoothly until Friday morning’s train was brought to a screeching halt when the engineer spotted an open switch. An investigation showed that wooden wedges had been inserted to prevent the switch from closing.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
