Two Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded early yesterday morning when Jordanian units fired mortars and machine guns to cover the retreat of an El Fatah gang that tried to invade Kibbutz Tirat Zvi in the Beisan Valley on the Sabbath eve. Israeli return fire silenced the Jordanians behind the Jordan River cease-fire demarcation line.
Tirat Zvi, a religious settlement, has been a frequent target of terrorist infiltration and Jordanian attacks. It was one of the hardest hit of eight Beisan Valley settlements attacked by Jordanian artillery and mortars on Feb. 15, an episode that led to a sharp Israeli retaliation and a pledge by King Hussein to prevent Arab terror gangs from using Jordan as a base for their incursions against Israel. The terrorists from Jordan tried twice to enter the Tirat Zvi perimeter and were twice repulsed by the settlement’s watchmen. Two intruders were Milled in the encounters.
Two Israeli soldiers and two girls were injured in another incident Thursday night when their vehicle was ambushed by marauders from Jordan on a road near Samakh on the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. The marauders scattered under fire from Israeli units nearby. Bloodstains discovered at the scene indicated that the Arabs had suffered casualties, probably when one of their hand grenades exploded too close to their position. The injured Israelis were taken to a hospital where they were reported to be in satisfactory condition.
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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.
