Two U. N. Observers Wounded in Mine Explosion in Mt. Scopus Area

Two United Nations truce observers and a Jordanian representative on the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission were wounded today when they hit a mine in the Israeli-held area of Mt. Scopus.

The two UN officers, both Canadian nationals, were severely wounded and were removed to Hadassah hospital here. The Jordanian was only slightly injured and recrossed, the lines to obtain medical treatment.

The UN observers and the Jordanian came from the Jordan lines to Mt Scopus in response to a complaint by Israeli authorities that a force of Jordanian troops had invaded a building within the Israeli perimeter and refused to leave. When the team arrived near the Israeli lines they were offered an escort, but refused it on the grounds that they were familiar with the territory and would rather go alone.

After the explosion, another team of observers came up to the height and arranged the withdrawal of the Jordanians from the Israeli building. That operation only took half an hour. Commenting on the incident and the accident which followed it, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman called it “another demonstration of persistent Jordanian aggression” in the face of efforts by UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold to end hostile incidents.

The Israel Government extended its sympathy to the wounded men, through Maj. Gen. E. L. M. Burns, Canadian chief of the UN truce organization. The two observers are Maj. George A. Hint of Outremont and Maj. Marcel Breault of St. Hyacinthe. Late today they were pronounced out of danger. Blood for transfusions was provided by volunteers from Israel and UN truce headquarters.