One of the oldest Jewish settlements — Yavneel, overlooking the Sea of Galilee was attacked for the first time last night with Katyusha rockets fired from positions on the Jordanian side of the border. A military spokesman said four or five shells struck but caused no casualties or damage. El Fatah radio claimed that its guerrillas shelled three Israeli settlements, including one on the Sea of Galilee and caused “high” casualties and damage. The El Fatah claim was broadcast before the shelling actually started.
A number of mortar shells exploded last night in Malkiya settlement near the Lebanese border but caused no casualties or damage, a military spokesman reported. He said the mortars were positioned well behind the Lebanese frontier. An Arab saboteur was killed last night in an encounter with an Israeli patrol north of the Damiya bridge in the Jordan Valley. The rest of the gang escaped across the Jordan River. The Israeli patrol suffered no casualties. Amman radio claimed that Jordanian and Israeli forces battled for more than two hours last night with artillery, mortars and machineguns.
Israeli sappers blew up four houses in Ramallah-el Bireh which belonged to alleged members of a sabotage gang responsible for the recent supermarket bombing and other terrorist acts in Jerusalem. One of the buildings was the 15-room home of a Ramallah lawyer, Yusef Odeh, who was arrested along with his three daughters last week in connection with the bombings.
The Hebrew University is taking security measures to avert future terrorist attacks like the bombing of the library cafeteria last Thursday which injured 28 students. A fence is being erected around the campus with gates at specific points. A group of 120 foreign students have organized themselves into a security force which checks the identity of people entering the buildings. The foreign students do not serve in Israel’s armed forces or do reserve duty.
(Israel told the United Nations today that the government of Jordan must bear the responsibility for continued “aggression”. In a letter, Ambassador Yosef Tekoah asserted, “armed bands, terrorists and saboteurs are openly subsisting in Jordan from the territory of which they pursue terror warfare against Israel by various acts of violence aiming at murder for murder’s sake. They enjoy the sanction and the aid of Jordanian authorities. The regular military forces of Jordan collaborate with them in committing deliberate arms breaches of cease-fire. The victims of their attacks are mostly civilians.”)
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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.
