Eleven Israelis, including several women and children, were murdered by Jordanian infiltrees today in an ambush on the Eilath-Beersheba road. Four persons–including two soldiers, one girl and a woman–escaped unharmed by pretending to be dead.
The massacre, the worst since the end of the open phase of the Arab state’s invasion of Israel, was described by a military spokesman here as the “most serious” incident since the establishment of the State of Israel. The ambush, carried out by khaki clad, red-belted Arabs using submachine guns, took place between the Scorpion Pass and the Great Crater in the Negev, not far from the Jordan frontier.
The bus had set out from Eilath this morning, bound for Tel Aviv. Several hours later, the bus stopped to give the passengers a brief rest and the entire party walked around watching or photographing the hilly, desert scenery near the Geraffi Wadi. A few minutes later all returned to the bus and the vehicle began climbing the dangerous pass.
Shortly after the climb began, automatic weapons opened fire. The bus driver was killed in the first burst of submachine gun slugs and the bus came to a halt. With the bus an easy target, the Arabs intensified their fire, killing all except the four. There were four soldiers aboard the bus as a guard unit, but they apparently were unable to bring their weapons into play before the massacre was completed. The survivors described the attackers and noted that they all were red belts with knives in them.
An Army command car, which passed the scene afterwards, was the first Israeli party on the scene. They took the woman, two soldiers and the girl, who is the daughter of the bus driver, to Beersheba. The bus driver’s name was Anane Kalman Efroni. His wife was also a victim.
U. N. OBSERVER ARRIVES ON SCENE; INVESTIGATION STARTS TODAY
As they left the scene of horror, the occupants of the command car noticed that an ambulance was approaching the area. They did not wait to find out who had called for it. Also, it was later learned, a Swedish United Nations observer was the first man on the scene, having arrived before the command car. It was not immediately learned how he had found out about the incident.
The military spokesman here said that an official investigation of the incident would not start until tomorrow morning. He revealed that UN observers would be present when the investigating party began its work. The bodies have been left on the scene.
Meanwhile, a second incident involving Jordanian Infiltrees was reported this evening. Arabs in the border region near Hebron opened fire on an Israel Army patrol, but no casualties were reported.
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.
