2 Israeli Soldiers, 3 Arab Commandos Die in Clash

Three Arab commandos and two Israeli soldiers were killed today after the guerrillas attempted to infiltrate northern Israel.

Leftist militia sources in Lebanon said the guerrillas were trying to reach the northern Israeli settlement of Dan. A senior Israeli officer told Army Radio only that the commandos’ goal was a civilian target.

Israeli troops first detected the footprints of the guerrillas in the early morning and with helicopters and patrols searched several hours for the infiltrators, Army Radio reported. About 7 a.m. the guerrillas, who were hiding in rough brush about 200 yards inside the Israeli border, opened fire on a passing patrol, an army spokesman said.

The Israeli patrol charged the guerrillas and in the short battle that took place at a few yards distance, two Israeli soldiers and three guerrillas were killed. Two Israeli soldiers were wounded, the spokesman said.

The last attempted infiltration of Israel’s northern border was April 13 when two guerrillas were killed and four Israelis wounded in a shoot-out north of Kfar Yuval.

On Monday, Israel Radio reported that an Israeli navy boat sank a rubber dinghy near the port of Tyre, 45 miles south of Beirut, at 3 a.m. It said two guerrillas were killed when the navy boat riddled their vessel with gunfire.

‘Identified Suspicious Boat’

“The Israel navy boat . . . identified a small, suspicious terrorist boat,” a military spokesman said of the Monday morning incident. “The navy boat opened fire, and the terrorist boat was sunk.”

The spokesman did not say how the boat was identified as a “terrorist” vessel, and said he had no information on guerrilla casualties.

Palestinian guerrilla groups have tried to infiltrate Israel via the sea in the past. On Feb. 28 an Israeli navy patrol destroyed a small boat in the same area. The military said that boat was on its way to carry out an attack in Israel.

No major clashes between soldiers and Palestinian protesters were reported Monday in the West Bank and Gaza, scene of more than four months of bloody Palestinian unrest that has claimed more than 160 Arab lives.