A busload of Israeli passengers narrowly escaped possible massacre near the Jordanian border last night. At the same time–but in another spot–a Jordanian infiltrator was killed and another was wounded as a group of Arabs was caught by a border patrol inside Israeli territory.
The bus incident occurred on the road from Eilat to Tel Aviv. The driver told police that, as he slowed his vehicle to make a steep ascent on a hill, sudden bursts of fire hit the machine. He accelerated speed and made the top of the hill out of gun range, then halted. A number of bullets had hit the body of the bus.
The driver believed the attackers had aimed at killing him so that the bus would careen to a stop, after which they would have attacked the passengers. Footprints from the point of attack were traced by police 14 miles eastward to the Jordanian border. Israel complained of the incident to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization which sent military observers today to inspect the scene of the attack and the bullet-riddled bus.
Meanwhile, near Hebron, a group of Arabs infiltrated the area and was halted by an Israeli patrol. After killing one of the men and wounding another, the patrol chased the infiltrators back to the Jordanian border.
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.
