Israel’s Defense Minister and the commander of its military forces in the Sinai served notice on Egyptian authorities over the weekend that the continued escalation of sniping and mining incidents along the Suez Canal would provoke retaliation.
Gen. Dayan said Friday, “We shall not remain silent, we will react if these provocations persist.” Several Israeli soldiers have been wounded by sniper fire across the canal in recent days and there has been an increase in the number of minings, although the latter have not caused any deaths so far. Gen. Dayan said it was possible that local Egyptian commanders, not Cairo, were responsible for the incidents. He said, “I appeal to the top level command to end these provocations lest the situation deteriorate along that front.”
Maj. Gen. Haim Herzog warned, in a Jerusalem radio interview Saturday that Israel was prepared to reply to Egyptian military actions along the Canal. “Hostile actions constitute a two-way street,” he said. “The Egyptian command must surely realize by now that there is a line beyond which it is unwise to move if they wish to avoid Israeli reaction. They are very close to that line.”
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