Rocket Attack on Kiryat Shemona Kills Two; U.S. State Department Deplores Incident

Israel Air Force jets pounded Egyptian artillery positions and other targets in the Suez Canal zone for four hours today following a night of intermittent artillery exchanges across the waterway. All Israeli planes returned safely to their bases. Security officials disclosed today that two Israeli civilians and three soldiers were killed in a series of guerrilla attacks and clashes with guerrilla bands during the last 24 hours. Four soldiers, a border policeman and two civilians were injured. Guerrilla forces suffered four dead, bringing to 27 the number killed since Monday. Israeli military sources reported a sharp increase in infiltration attempts by Arab guerrillas and saboteurs and attributed it to an organized campaign aimed at sabotaging Israel Independence Day celebrations next Monday.

The most serious incident occurred at midnight last night when a Katyusha rocket attack was launched at Kiryat Shemona in Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border killing Shimon Banjo, 56 and his 17-year-old daughter, Rina. His younger daughter, Ruth, was slightly injured. They were hit while racing for a bomb shelter as rockets began exploding within the school perimeter where 40 children on tour were spending the night. Banjo was in charge of the Kiryat Shemona school. He came to Israel from Tangiers with his family in 1955. His son and another daughter are teachers. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan visited Kiryat Shemona this morning. (U.S. State Department spokesman Robert J. McCloskey, referring to the attack said today, “We deplore all incidents of this type and renew our call upon all in the area to exercise the utmost restraint in the prevention and control of acts of violence.”)

Three Israeli soldiers were killed and two were wounded last night in a clash with saboteurs from Lebanon in the Mt. Hermon area. The dead were identified as Lt. Itzhak Tzur, of Kiryat Tivon, Corp. Mordechai Bida and Corp. Avinoam Sheinfeld, of Nathanya. Lt. Tzur was in command of the patrol when it was attacked. He held off saboteurs with a sub-machine-gun until his men found cover and remained standing until fatally wounded. Four saboteurs were killed in a half hour gun and grenade battle with an Israeli patrol ten miles north of Acre today after they blew up a water pipe at Moshav Dishon. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded. A border policeman and a civilian were wounded when guerrillas attacked an Israeli vehicle near Malkiyeh in Upper Galilee today. The guerrillas escaped to the Lebanese border. Margaliot and Yiron settlements in Upper Galilee were attacked from Lebanon during the night. There were no casualties.