Israeli Air Force jets struck at saboteur bases in the Araba wilderness region of Jordan south of the Dead Sea today. A military spokesman said the sortie lasted less than 20 minutes, that only a small number of planes were involved, no opposition was encountered and all planes returned safely to their bases.
Two Israeli soldiers and two Arab guerrillas were killed in a brief but fierce gunfight in the resort town of El Hamma near the southeast shores of the Sea of Galilee on Friday. Three Israelis and two Arabs were wounded in the fray which lasted three minutes. Retreating guerrillas blew up one of two bath houses that had recently been completed at the town’s thermal springs which Israel is trying to promote as a tourist center.
The guerrilla attack came as a complete surprise. Israeli officials said that that section of the Israel-Jordan border along the banks of the Yarmuk River had always been quiet. They had thought Jordan wanted to keep it that way since Jordanians drew water from the river only a few yards from Israeli soil. Last week an Israeli worker was killed and 20 others were injured when guerrillas detonated a mine under a bus bound for El Hamma. The Israel Government began work four months ago on a modern spa at El Hamma. Israel has another spa directly across the Sea of Galilee about two miles south of Tiberias.
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