Four Arab youths from the Egyptian-held Gaza strip have been sentenced to five-year terms as spies, a military spokesman revealed here last night. The four, each about 17 years of age, were convicted by an Israel military court sitting in Rehovoth.
The Arabs, who were apprehended inside Israel territory on their first day of spying, had been recruited from a high school in Gaza by an Egyptian intelligence agent who trained them for six days and then on Friday, their day off, sent them across the border to act as schoolboys who had mistakenly entered Israel territory They carried Egyptian and English textbooks when they were apprehended.
When questioned by the military authorities, the four told conflicting stories. Finally, they broke down and confessed their espionage mission–to ferret out the defense lay-outs of Israel villages and Israel Army camps near the Gaza strip. They said that they were to have been paid six Egyptian pounds monthly for their work.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
