Three truckloads of armed terrorists last night invaded the Palestine Broadcasting System’s central station at Ramallah, several miles forth of Jerusalem, and attempted to seize the broadcasting facilities to make an illegal appeal to the country.
The terrorists who have been indentified as members of the outlawed Irgun Zvai ?euni, Jewish extremist group, were thwarted by the refusal of the station’s employees ?o man the equipment and by the arrival of strong police reinforcements. The terrorists escaped after a running gun battle with armored care along the road to Petach ?ikvah, in which two policemen were seriously wounded.
According to the testimony of station employees, the terrorists intended to destroy the equipment after making their broadcast. After overpowering the guard outside the station, they attempted to force the staff to put the station on the air, but ?ere told that that was impossible. They then fired several shots into the broadcasting apparatus doing an unspecified amount of damage, and fled.
Police cars arriving in response to an alarm sounded by one of the station’s staff, found the roads leading to it strewn with land mines. Several exploded without ?ausing any injury. By the time the police cars arrived the terrorists had fled. They were halted at a road block set up by the police between Lydda and Petach Tikvah on the road to Tel Aviv, where they abandoned the trucks and scattered after exchanging shots with the police.
Police report that there were 25 persons in the three trucks, which had been stolen yesterday afternoon outside Petach Tikvah after the terrorists overpowered and tied up the drivers. When they were abandoned, the trucks, onto which false license plates had been affixed, contained several bombs and nail-studded boards. A countrywide alarm has gone out for the terrorists.
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.
