An Israel Navy patrol boat killed two suspected terrorists and sank their rubber dinghy early Monday morning, in an encounter at sea off the Lebanon coast.
Rear Admiral Avraham Ben-Shashon, the navy commander, told Israel Radio that the patrol boat identified the dinghy as the type used by terrorists to infiltrate into Israel by sea. He said the two men aboard were acting in a suspicious manner.
After challenging them, the patrol boat opened fire, killing both of its occupants. Ben-Shashon said the Palestine Liberation Organization and other terrorist groups have lately resumed their attempts to infiltrate Israel by sea, but so far have been foiled.
He said the attacks had been thwarted far from Israel and without any Israeli casualties. Nevertheless, more such attempts can be expected in the future, the admiral said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
