Israel Air Force jets blasted Egyptian positions in the Suez Canal zone for six hours this afternoon in their 18th consecutive day of strikes along the length of the waterway. The Israeli planes were in action over the canal for a total of 27 hours Friday and Saturday. Israeli artillery shelled Egyptian positions near Kantara in the northern end of the canal zone and Port Ibrahim at the southern end today. Israeli jets attacked guerrilla bases on the southwestern slopes of Mt. Hermon in Lebanon twice today. Each attack lasted 15 minutes. A military spokesman reported that all planes returned safely from all missions on all fronts. Four Israeli soldiers were wounded by Egyptian fire on the Suez Canal front this morning and two others were injured when a hand grenade exploded in the Jebaliyah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip today. Ten local Arabs were also injured. Two Gaza youths, aged 18 and 21, were killed last night when explosives they were handling blew up in their hands at the Shatti refugee camp. Two Arab saboteurs were killed yesterday in a running battle with Israeli forces near the Timna copper mines in the southern Negev. The saboteurs were pursued after doing slight damage to an electric power line carrying current to Eilat. Power was shut off for several minutes.
Syrian artillery shelled an Israeli force in the Golan Heights this morning. Guerrillas crossed the cease-fire line to fire bazookas at Nahal Geshor. No casualties were reported. Kiryat Shemona in Upper Galilee and Beisan township were both targets of Katyusha rocket fire last night but reported no casualties or damage. Beisan residents had a brief scare early this morning when rockets exploded outside the town limits. There were no casualties. An electric power grid was slightly damaged. Some results of Israel’s relentless bombardment of Egyptian targets in the Suez Canal area were shown to newsmen today. Photographs released by the Army showed a 150 meter stretch of road leading to Port Said destroyed and the surrounding area devastated by bomb craters. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan visited Israeli lines along the Suez Canal today accompanied by Gen. David Elazar, chief of the operational section at General Headquarters. Both wore protective jackets against shrapnel. They visited the sites of two Egyptian commando ambushes in which 13 Israeli soldiers were killed last Saturday. A 14th victim, Corp. Michael Michaelowitz, 21, of Nahariya, an immigrant from Uruguay, died of his wounds Thursday night.
A pregnant woman who was wounded by shrapnel during the Iraqi shelling of Tiberias last week lost her baby who was born after its mother was wounded. The infant died yesterday. Mrs. Yardena Shahrour underwent surgery for a second time since she was hit. An Israeli officer was killed and injuries were sustained by three soldiers, four border policemen and two foreign journalists in a clash between an Israeli patrol and a group of Arab saboteurs Friday morning near Kfar Ruppin. The newsmen were not immediately identified. A hand grenade was thrown Friday into a group of Arab merchants in Gaza who were opening their shops despite the insistence of the terrorist organizations that they close in protest against Israeli occupation. One merchant and two children were injured. Friday was the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Six-Day War according to the Arab calendar. Israel marked the occasion Wednesday. Terrorists on Friday also tossed grenades at a Gaza Strip police car occupied by local policemen and patrolling the Djeballa refugee quarter. None of the policemen was injured in the attack, although the vehicle was damaged.
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