Israeli Planes Attack Egyptian and Syrian Positions; Shell Lebanon Guerrilla Sites

Israel Air Force jets carried out morning and afternoon attacks on Egyptian positions in the Suez Canal zone today and shot down one Egyptian MIG-21 in a dogfight West of the canal. A second Egyptian MIG was hit but was not seen to crash. All Israeli planes returned safely. Three Israeli commando forces plunged into Syria last night and this morning to smash military targets and an 80-foot high steel pylon carrying electric current to Damascus. One of the targets was an Army training camp and command base at Kteifa village, 20 miles northeast of Damascus and about 55 miles behind the Israel-Syrian cease-fire lines. It was the deepest penetration of Syria by Israeli forces since the June, 1967 war. A military spokesman said all Israeli commandos returned safely to their bases.

Israeli forces shelled guerrilla concentrations on the slopes of Mt. Hermon in Lebanon West of the Hasbani River today. About six shells were fired from Lebanese territory into Israel without causing casualties or damage. An Israeli soldier, Corp. Gideon Ratnowski, 22, of Rishon LeZion, was killed by Egyptian gunfire in the southern section of the Suez Canal zone last night. A military spokesman said the air raids in the Canal zone were concentrated in the central sector. A dogfight ensued when a flight of MIG-21s, Egypt’s first line interceptors, rose to attack Israeli jets on a reconnaissance mission about 20 miles West of the Suez Canal. The pilot of the downed MIG was seen bailing out.

The Israeli commando raids in Syria represented the first response to the recent escalation of fighting along the Syrian cease-fire line. An Israeli spokesman charged 148 violations of the 1967 cease-fire by Syria so far this year. Last week they took their highest toll–four Israelis dead and 13 wounded. Israeli officials have attributed the escalation to a high level policy decision by the Damascus government, not incidental attacks by guerrilla bands. Damascus radio reported five Syrian soldiers killed and 14 wounded in the shelling of the army camp. Syria said the pylon carrying 60,000 volt high tension wires was bombed from the air. Israel said it was destroyed by ground forces. During the early morning raid, Israeli commandos destroyed a culvert and a pill box on a road just to the rear of Syrian forces facing the Golan Heights.

A military spokesman disclosed that the commandos reached their targets by helicopter–presumably the giant French-built super-Frelon. He said they encountered some anti-aircraft fire but no hits were scored. He said extreme care was exercised in the attack on the Kteifa Army camp to make sure that no shells landed in the nearby civilian village. According to accounts of the action the Syrians were taken by surprise. Their camp was well lighted and was blacked out only after the attack was in progress.