A district military court imposed prison sentences and demotion in rank yesterday on two Army officers found guilty of negligence in connection with an ammunition truck explosion which killed 24 soldiers and civilians and injured 23 others in Eilat last January. The names of the officers were withheld but their former ranks were given as lieutenant and second lieutenant. One was sentenced to 18 months and the other to a nine month term. An Army captain and a sergeant were acquitted. All four had been charged with recklessness, neglect and lack of caution in handling explosives. The fatal blast occurred while unloading captured Egyptian ammunition on a dock at Eilat following a successful commando raid on Shadwan Island in the Gulf of Suez. The Army announced today that 550 medals will be awarded to reserve and regular soldiers for acts of heroism in action since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. A special committee headed by Chief of Staff Gen. Haim Bar Lev will determine the recipients. Several soldiers will receive more than one decoration. One will be a posthumous award to Capt. Nehemya Cohen who was killed at Gaza during the June, 1967 Six-Day War.
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.
