Syria today renewed firing against an Israeli tractor team working in a field belonging to Kibbutz Haon, on the southeastern shore of Lake Tiberias. This was the second attack in two days.
Quiet had prevailed in the tense area last night and this morning, while United Nations military observers were checking yesterday’s attack by Syrian gun posts. But this afternoon the Syrians directed heavy machinegun fire again at the Israeli farmers, following through with anti-tank guns. An Israeli patrol returned today’s fire. There were no casualties on Israel’s side either yesterday or today.
The first attack, carried out yesterday, had just been investigated by the U.N. teams, after Israel had filed a complaint with the Israeli-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission, and the United Nations men were about to leave the area, when today’s firing began. When the Israelis returned the fire, the exchange lasted about 10 minutes.
The Syrian attacks had been directed against tractor operators cultivating fields which had been safely worked by the Israelis for a long time. The incidents were seen here as a continuation of Syrian provocations in the demilitarized zones on the Israeli-Syrian frontiers, where the Syrians have been increasingly trying to penetrate lands previously cultivated by Israeli farmers.
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