Four captured El Fatah terrorists who face possible death sentences in the slaying of two Israeli border patrol sergeants, demanded today that they be given prisoner-of-war status and treated accordingly. A spokesman for the gang, which will be tried before a military tribunal, demanded that he be given a lawyer appointed by the “high command” of El Fatah, the Syrian based terrorist and sabotage organization. A fifth El Fatah member, an Israeli Arab, has already been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.
The El Fatah prisoners based their claim for POW status on a broadcast by Labor Minister Yigal Allon who said that Israel would deal with the El Fatah as it would with any organized military unit. The gang was rounded up after a two day pursuit in the hilly Tulkarm-Nablus region. They were captured in a cave with a large cache of arms and explosives following a sharp exchange of fire with Israeli security forces.
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.
