Israeli officials reported today the arrest of a commander of the underground Palestine Liberation Organization as new acts of Arab sabotage cost the life of a three-year old child in a Jewish collective near Hadera and blasted a factory in another collective in the same area.
The PLO commander was identified as Moustaffa Dmayess Hamyess of a well-known family of Hebron in the occupied west bank sector. He is one of more than 100 Arab extremists and underground members arrested by Israeli security services in recent raids carried out in an effort to check the increasing number of acts of anti-Israel agitation and demonstrations in occupied areas.
The three-year-old son of Anszlem Salomon was critically injured by falling debris when an explosion wrecked the Salomon dwelling at midnight last night in the Moshav Cmetz. The child died en route to a hospital. Salomon, his wife and two other children escaped serious injury. A short time later, the glue department of the food factory in Kibbutz Maanit, north of Hadera, was wrecked in another explosion. Security operatives and police dogs were rushed to the scenes of the blasts and found footprints. Israeli officials imposed a curfew on nearby villages to aid the search for the terrorists.
Leaflets signed by El Fatah, the Arab terrorist group, and Aasifa, a crack unit of the El Fatah, were found near the damaged kibbutz factory. The leaflets carried warnings that “the future will be still more serious.”
CABINET MEMBERS URGE STRONG ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES, INCLUDING DEATH PENALTY
The invocation of strict measures against terrorists and those who incite to violence in the west bank area was advocated by some members of the Government at yesterday’s meeting of the Cabinet. Some of the Ministers went as far as to demand that death sentences be imposed on terrorists who caused loss of lives.
The security affairs were debated after a full-hour report given the Cabinet by Gen. Moshe Dayan, Minister of Defense. He described and analyzed the recent bombings of homes and factories in Israel and other acts of resistance and terrorism. He told the Cabinet he has found “clear evidence” that some of the arms and explosives used in the recent spate of resistance had their origin in Syria. In his report, Gen. Dayan also informed the Cabinet of the details of the expulsion from Jerusalem of Abdul Hamid Es-Sayeh, a Moslem dignitary, who was expelled into Jordan. He also discussed the situation in the Suez Canal area.
Meanwhile, the army spokesman announced this evening that, after relative quiet lasting several days, the Egyptians had renewed their attacks against Israeli forces in the Suez Canal area this afternoon. The Egyptians opened machine gun fire from the canal’s western bank against the Israeli-occupied eastern shore, Israel did not, at first, return the fire. But, an hour and a half later, the Egyptians directed their fire against an Israeli patrol north of the Bitter Lakes. This time, Israel shot back, and another exchange took place shortly there after. There were no casualties on the Israeli side. Several cease-fire arrangements made by the United Nations military observers were violated by the Egyptians up to nightfall.
The Judea district was placed under curfew today, but this action had nothing to do with the Hadera incident. The curfew was imposed while a census was being carried out of the Arab population in the west bank region.
Meanwhile, it was noted here, life in Jerusalem as well as along the entire west bank continued normally. Scores of Arab laborers are now employed in Jerusalem. Shops and industries in East Jerusalem were carrying on their normal activities today.
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