Three small railroad bridges in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip were slightly damaged by explosive charges that went off during the night but were quickly repaired this morning and rail traffic is proceeding normally, a military spokesman reported today. A search for the Arab saboteurs is going on.
Two Arab saboteurs were killed Thursday night in a clash east of Jericho when a gang of infiltrators was intercepted by an Israeli patrol. There were no Israeli casualties. A Russian-made assault rifle and a Karl Gustav sub-machine-gun were found on the bodies along with hand grenades and a quantity of ammunition. (Press services reported from Beirut yesterday that Arab commandos said they destroyed the Israeli military command headquarters in Jericho and killed the Israeli military governor and a large number of officers and men in the raid.)
A military spokesman reported today that automatic fire was aimed at Israeli forces in the Golan Heights last night. It came from Jordanian territory. There were no casualties. Two Arab marauders were killed early today in an encounter with an Israeli patrol near the Damiyah Bridge on the Jordan River cease-fire line. No injuries were reported by Israel.
(Amman appears seriously concerned that it will be attacked soon and has begun civil defense preparations for the first time since the Six-Day War, according to a report today in the London Sunday Observer. Sandbags went up in the Jordan capital last week at entrances to office buildings, ships and other places. Following recent Israeli attacks, in particular the artillery shelling of the town of Irbid, in retaliation for terrorism in Israel, there has been widespread criticism of the lack of protection for the civilian population, the Observer reported. Front line soldiers have also reportedly complained to King Hussein about inadequate military equipment and lack of air cover with which to ward off any Israeli attacks along the cease-fireline.)
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