An Israeli officer was killed in the Suez Canal zone today by explosives presumably planted by an Egyptian commando unit that is believed to have crossed the canal last night. The deceased was identified as Second Lt. Herman Mordechai. The explosion took place on a water pipeline that runs parallel to the canal between Ismailia and the Firdan bridge.
An Israeli soldier was killed yesterday when his vehicle struck a mine on Mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights. The mine was attributed to saboteurs from Lebanon. It brought to seven the number of sabotage incidents from Lebanese territory during the past week.
A military spokesman said that incidents along the Jordan River declined slightly last week to 49 compared to 53 the week before. But Jordanian regulars participated in only two of the latest incidents. So far Jordan has not made an attempt to repair the Ghor irrigation canal damaged by an Israeli air raid Aug. 10. The fields watered by the canal are reported to be yellowing for lack of irrigation.
Small arms and mortar exchanges took place along the Suez Canal last night and early today. But there has been no Egyptian artillery fire since yesterday’s Israeli air raid which blasted gun positions at Dever Swair, near the Bitter Lakes. Israeli observers claimed the Egyptians suffered at least 30 casualties and some of their batteries were destroyed. A mortar shell exploded near Port Tewfik today but there were no Israeli casualties.
An Israeli unit came under mortar attack in the Golan Heights this morning but suffered no casualties. The fire was returned. Israeli workers demolished three houses in Nablus belonging to suspected saboteurs. The buildings were dismantled piece-by-piece so as not to damage adjacent houses.
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