Defense Minister Gen. Moshe Dayan was reported today to have warned Egypt that Israel would not tolerate violations of the cease-fire along the Suez-Sinai demarcation line. The warning, which Gen. Dayan is reported to have asked Lt. Gen. Odd Bull of the United Nations observers corps to convey to Egyptian authorities in Cairo, referred to yesterday’s raid across the Suez Canal by Egyptian commandos who killed two Israeli soldiers and apparently kidnapped a third after ambushing their Jeep.
Israeli military authorities today reconstructed the incident in which they estimated that 30 Egyptian raiders took part, since 30 trenches found by Israeli forces on the east bank of the Suez Canal where the raiders were believed to have landed in one or more boats. They said that when the party landed it split, one section remaining to guard the landing craft and the other to lay mines on a road that runs parallel to the canal, near Lake Timsah. The Israeli Jeep hit two of the mines and was fired upon from ambush. The dead soldiers were identified today as Zeev Salt, 19, of Tel Aviv, and Yoseef Ouri, 21, of Kfar Warburg. The missing soldier, believed to have been dragged off by the Egyptians, was identified yesterday as Yaacob Royneh, of Kibbutz Eliaon.
Gen. Dayan summoned Gen. Bull to his office yesterday to express the extremely grave view that Israel takes of the incident, the first terrorist raid across the 103-mile-long Suez Canal to cause casualties. The canal constitutes the cease-fire line on which Israeli forces halted their advance when Egypt accepted a cease-fire during the June, 1967 Six-Day War. The canal is too deep to be forded and must be crossed by boat.
Jordanian forces attacked an Israeli border police armored car early today touching off a 20-minute exchange of fire with Israeli units in the Beisan Valley area, a military spokesman reported. No casualties were reported on the Israeli side. The initial attack, which broke a 24-hour lull in exchanges of fire, occurred between Neveh Urr and Gesher, settlements that came under heavy Jordanian artillery and mortar attacks last weekend. Jerusalem police today released 16 Arab suspects who were detained for questioning on Aug. 18 in connection with the series of grenade explosions in downtown Jerusalem which injured 10 persons. Police said that interrogation established that the suspects had no connection with the explosions.
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