An Israel Navy patrol boat intercepted and sank a motorboat manned by terrorists with Katyusha rockets in an encounter off the Lebanese coast just north of Ras Hanigra shortly after midnight last night, it was announced today. Several bodies seen floating on the sea near the Israeli shoreline this morning are believed to be the remains of the terrorists.
A military spokesman said the terrorists apparently planned a hit-and-run rocket attack on an Israeli coastal town or city in the Nahariya area depending upon the speed of their craft to make a swift approach and get-away. The limited cruising range of the boat indicated that they departed on their mission from a point close to the Israeli border with Lebanon. Terrorists attempted a similar attack on Eilat last year, using a small cargo vessel laden with high explosives and armed with Katyusha rockets. That too was foiled by the Israeli Navy.
Naval experts said today that last night’s action probably averted a major catastrophe. But they warned that this does not guarantee that the Navy will always succeed in spotting and destroying terrorist boats. In another naval related matter, the three landing craft that made the historic first passage through the Suez Canal by units of the Israel Navy last week, sailed from their base this morning, headed again for the Egyptian waterway. They are bound for Sharm el-Sheikh at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula where they will begin the evacuation of military vehicles and other equipment.
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