Israelis Capture 2 Palestinians After Gaza Border Raid
Israeli troops captured two Palestinian gunmen from Egypt who attacked a border army base Wednesday.
An Israeli statement said the teen-age guerrillas from a refugee camp on the Egyptian side of the border infiltrated during the night at Rafah in the occupied Gaza Strip but surrendered after being wounded.
There were no Israeli casualties.
The border raid was the third attempt by Palestinian gunmen to infiltrate Israel in a week. Israeli troops killed two guerrilla squads north of the border with Lebanon on Sunday and Monday.
Israel’s southern military commander, Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai, told reporters in Rafah that the gunmen were from the Islamic Jihad group and told interrogators they were acting with the knowledge of Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat.
A third Palestinian, who guided the gunmen to the base, escaped back into Egypt, and Israeli authorities asked the Egyptians to arrest him, the commander said.
Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a reporter that Egypt is doing its best to stop border infiltrations but will have to improve its security to prevent such attacks.
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