The Israeli officer who commanded the four-man patrol which crossed the Gaza Strip border in pursuit of an Arab gang which had fired on them may be court-martialled, an Israeli Army spokesman said today. He revealed that the army prosecutor’s office was investigating the circumstances of the case.
Giving the Israeli version of the case, the spokesman said that the Israeli unit had been stopped by two different United Nations Emergency Force patrols while inside Egyptian-controlled territory. The first UNEF patrol saw the Israelis being-fired upon by the Arabs, the second did not, he said. He expressed surprise that the UN version of the affair had failed to mention that the firing which started the incident came from Egyptians.
The Israeli unit found footprints and discarded plastic parts which led them to believe an Egyptian party had planted landmines, the spokesman said. So it followed the track toward the border where it was fired upon. The Israeli officer commanded his men to return the fire and then set out in pursuit of the attackers, despite the fact that they were more numerous than his patrol. When the officer found himself and his unit inside Egyptian territory, he ordered a cease-fire and retreat toward Israel. It was then that the two UNEF patrols, at separate times, intercepted the patrol.
The spokesman said that the commander was right in deciding to strike back at the attackers, but wrong in firing across the border and in crossing the border. He would be court–martialled for the last two actions. (United Arab Republic delegate Dr. Omar Loutfi filed a complaint over the incident with the UN Security Council this week-end. His letter asked that the complaint be circulated to Council members and noted that the UAR reserves its right to future action in this matter.)
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.
