A Lebanese military plane was intercepted early today in northern Israel and followed Israel fighter planes to a Haifa airport landing after the Israel planes fired several warning shots, a military spokesman announced.
The spokesman said the plane was a three-engined FM-79 Italian-type Savoia Machetti, which was intercepted over the Ayelet Hashachar settlement in the upper Galilee. He said the warning shots were fired when the plane at first refused to heed signals from the intercepting fighters to land.
The plane and its crew of five were detained at the airport where it was found that special reconnaissance photographic equipment was part of the plane’s facilities. The photographic equipment was removed to determine what the crew had photographed during its flight over northern Israel.
A military spokesman also reported today that a brief exchange of gunfire took place between an Israel patrol and a group of Arab Bedouins yesterday in the southwest Negev. The spokesman said that the patrol came upon eight armed Bedouins with a flock of sheep inside Israel territory. The patrol ordered the Arabs to return to Egyptian territory. In reply, the Arabs opened fire on the patrol which returned the fire, driving the Arabs back across the border. 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.
