An Israeli soldier was wounded by an Egyptian sniper today along the Suez Canal about 30 miles north of Port Tewfik, a military spokesman announced. He was the eighth Israeli soldier to be hit by a sniper’s bullet along the canal in recent weeks.
The growing incidence of sniping on the waterway drew a warning to Egypt yesterday from Maj. Gen. Chaim Bar-Lev, Chief of Staff of Israel’s armed forces. Speaking at a press luncheon, Gen. Bar- Lev said Cairo was mistaken if it thought that Israel would react only to artillery barrages but not to other forms of cease-fire violations such as sniping. He said if the Egyptians did not soon decide to discontinue sniping, “we will have to help them reach such a decision.”
Only yesterday United Nations Secretary-General U Thant expressed alarm that sniping along the Suez Canal cease-fire line could escalate into serious fighting between Israel and Egyptian forces. Mr. Thant’s warning was in response to a report by the chief of the UN’s cease-fire observation corps, Lt. Gen. Odd Bull of Norway. Gen. Bull warned of the seriousness of the sniping and said that in most cases it was initiated by the Egyptians.
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.
