Israeli forces clashed anew with Arab marauders tonight, killing two of them in an encounter near Kissufim, opposite the former Gaza Strip demarcation line, while a third escaped, an Army spokesman reported here. An hour-long exchange of fire between Israeli and Jordanian forces across the Jordan River was reported by a military spokesman here this afternoon. There were no casualties on the Israeli side. The exchange began when Jordanians opened fire on an Israeli patrol south of Tirat Zvi in the Beisan Valley.
Israel’s security services announced the smashing of another Arab terrorist ring, the second to be uncovered in less than two weeks, foiling its plans for renewed terrorist activities in the West Bank region. Arrests were also announced today of two younger brothers of the Mayor of Gaza, who were rounded up with other suspects believed to have thrown hand grenades in Gaza streets in recent days. The Mayor himself boycotted a dinner given for Arab notables by the military governor last night, marking the end of the Moslem holy month of Ramadan. Seventy local Arabs did attend, however.
The terrorists arrested in the latest round-up by security forces included six Israeli Arabs, members of the outlawed El Ard nationalist organization, who had made contact with Syrian-trained El Fatah terrorists in the Nablus-Tulkarm region, and were planning new depredations against Israel. Three of the arrested were residents of Tabyeh village in Israel. Two others came from Baqua el Gharbiyeh’, also in Israel.
The El And organization, centered in Nazareth and in other Arab centers in Israel, was outlawed before the June war when its leaders openly proclaimed their support of Egyptian President Nasser’s declared intention of destroying Israel. Members of the organization took oaths on the Koran to keep its existence a secret, and outwardly pretended loyalty to Israel – while making contact with the El Fatah and planning to establish local terror groups, the security services reported.
The arrest of a second Arab student leader who entered Israel illegally to foment unrest in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was announced by police today. He is Taisir Kuba, a fourth-year history major at Cairo University and president of the Palestine Students Organization. Yesterday police announced the arrest here of the president of the Lebanese Students Union, a senior at Beirut University, who infiltrated into Israel with a band of El Fatah terrorists and was agitating among young educated Arabs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Kuba, who was born in the West Bank, participated in student congresses in Moscow and other Communist capitals, and also attended a congress of Palestinian terrorist organizations. The Palestine Students Organization which he heads has branches in thirty countries.
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.
