Two terrorist infiltrators were killed by Israel Defense Force soldiers near Kiryat Shmona on the northern border Wednesday, after they opened fire on a civilian truck, wounding its driver.
There were no IDF casualties. The clash was the second in two days in the area, where terrorist infiltration attempts have been increasing in recent months.
Two IDF soldiers were killed and two were wounded in a skirmish early Tuesday morning on the western slopes of Mount Hermon. The incident, in which three terrorists were killed, occurred less than 200 yards inside Israel’s border.
Wednesday’s encounter occurred as funeral services were being held for the soldiers who died Tuesday. They were Lt. Col. Shmuel Adiv, 29, of Hod Hasharon, commander of the unit involved in the clash, and Sgt. Ramzi Wahash, 27, of Ya’ara village in Western Galilee, a Bedouin tracker who had picked up and followed the trail of the infiltrators, accompanied by his commanding officer.
Both men were members of the crack Givati Brigade. Adiv, who was promoted only last week, on Independence Day, from major to lieutenant colonel, was buried at the Magdiel cemetery.
Wahash was buried in the cemetery in his village, a moshav shared by Jews and Bedouins. Even as they were laid to rest, soldiers of their unit were thwarting the infiltration attempt near Kiryat Shmona.
SHAMIR SENDS CONDOLENCES
Premier Yitzhak Shamir sent a telegram of condolence. “Shmuel gave his life for the well-being of residents of the North,” Shamir said. “The people of Israel will always remember Ramzi, who gave his life to defend the northern settlements,” he said.
Although several terrorist groups have claimed credit for Tuesday’s aborted infiltration attempt, documents found on the bodies of the three slain terrorists indicated they were members of Naif Hawatmeh’s Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
They were heavily armed and carried hand-drawn maps of the region. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on a radio interview Wednesday that since the IDF adopted its present policy of frontier defense three years ago, no Israeli civilian has been killed in Galilee because of terrorist infiltration. But 34 soldiers have died protecting the region, he said.
Rabin reported that six terrorist gangs have managed to reach the vicinity of Israel’s northern border during the last five months, but none have penetrated the country.
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