The Israel Cabinet heard today a report on last week’s shelling of nine Israeli border villages in the Huleh area by Syrian shelling. The report was presented by a Ministerial Committee whose members had toured the area bombarded by the Arab guns.
The Cabinet swiftly voted an appropriation of 1,000,000 pounds to repair the damage done to the villages and ordered that work be initiated immediately. Most severe damage was wrought on water pumping installations and communal buildings.
Mrs. Golda Meir, Foreign Minister, reported on international developments pertaining to last week’s incident. She dealt particularly with tomorrow’s meeting of the Security Council, called at Israel’s urgent insistence. Premier David Ben Gurion, in an address in Beersheba this week-end, warned that what occurred last week on the Syrian border could well take place along the Gaza Strip demarcation line.
Political commentators here see the new Syrian troubles as an indication that United Arab Republic President Nasser, beset with defeats in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and elsewhere, has ordered a diversion along the Israel border. The fact that the tactic appears successful was seen in the sudden prominence given Nasser by Radio Beirut and Radio Bagdad as an Arab champion against Israel.
A new outbreak of shooting by Syrian troops entrenched in the Huleh border area occurred last night, even as the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization worked to complete its report of last week’s artillery barrage of nine Israeli border villages. It is expected that the report will be in the hands of Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, before the Security Council meets tomorrow afternoon at Israel’s call to consider the situation.
The Syrian and Israeli forces traded machine gun bullets for 45 minutes yesterday after the Arab forces opened fire. It is believed that Syrian gunners are nervous, momentarily expecting an Israeli thrust in retaliation for last week’s unprovoked carnage, and shoot at the slightest noise. The Syrians have turned searchlight beams on the border area and the Israelis, too, have lit up the demilitarized zone.
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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.
