Egyptians Nervous Following Israeli Air Attack on 2 Terrorist Bases in Syria

Cairo appeared to be suffering from a severe case of jitters today in the aftermath of Israel’s heavy bombing attack on two terrorist camps in Syria yesterday. The authoritative Cairo newspaper Al Ahram announced today that Egypt was on a “maximum alert.” It reported that the peoples’ militia, civil defense systems, hospitals, fire departments and public utilities were being manned on an “emergency basis.” Observers here said the alert was probably prompted by fear of further Israeli air strikes on Arab territory to retaliate for the terrorist attack on an El Al airliner in Zurich last week and last Friday’s bombing of Jerusalem’s largest supermarket.

Two Israeli Air force jets streaked low over Jordan today to blast guerrilla positions near the deserted village of Manshieyeh. The air strike followed mortar, machine-gun and bazooka attacks from Jordanian territory on an Israeli patrol in the vicinity of the Beisan Valley settlement of Neve Urr. (A Jordanian spokesman said on Amman Radio today that the Israeli Jets attacked twice, dropped napalm and strafed the villages with rocket and machine-gun fire. He said there were no casualties.) An Israeli military spokesman said Israeli forces laid down a heavy barrage yesterday against saboteurs who attacked in the Beisan Valley with Katyusha rocket launchers. There were no Israeli casualties. Arab guerrillas aimed shells at Prime Minister Levi Eshkol’s summer home in Degania, south of the Sea of Galilee. The Prime Minister was in Jerusalem at the time. Two Israeli soldiers were injured in separate sniping incidents along the Suez Canal yesterday.

SEE STRIKE AS BEGINNING OF NEW STRATEGY IN DEALING WITH TERRORISTS

Observers believe that yesterday’s dawn air assault on the El Fatah headquarters at El Hamma, six miles from Damascus, and on the Mesaloun terrorist camp near the Lebanese border, marked a new phase of Israeli strategy which includes striking directly at guerrilla headquarters. This theory appeared to be confirmed in statements made later by Minister of Police Eliahu Sasson and Gen. Haim Herzog, a Government spokesman. Mr. Sasson told the Knesset that Israel could not allow terrorists to continue attacks on innocent civilians and that it would take “self-defense” measures in keeping with its estimate of a situation. “We will reach out and get them wherever they are,” he declared.

The Knesset today endorsed the Sasson position which was delivered on behalf of the Government. It was interpreted as meaning that Israel considers itself free to hit back at terrorists wherever they are and not necessarily in reply to a specific terrorist act against Israel or its nationals. Moscow-oriented New Communist faction abstained from voting.

Gen. Herzog declared on Jerusalem radio yesterday that Arab governments were responsible for terrorist acts because they harbored the guerrillas. “Israel has no option now but to strike in depth and create a situation which will be intolerable for the host Arab governments,” he said.

The air attack on the Syrian camps reportedly caused heavy damage. Syria claimed 14 were killed and 46 were wounded; reports yesterday put the toll at 150. Damascus claimed that four Israeli planes were shot down. Israel said all its planes returned safely and that two Syrian MIGs were downed. Israeli pilots said they penetrated to within a mile of Damascus before making their bombing run over El Hamma camp. They said anti-aircraft defenses were very weak and that the Syrian capital was extremely vulnerable.

Israeli officials would not characterize the raid as an act of retaliation for the Feb. 18 Arab attack on an El Al Airliner in Zurich. They noted that the El Hamma and Mesaloun camps were headquarters of El Fatah. The Zurich terrorists were members of a rival organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.