Israeli Navy Kills 2 Seaborne Arab Guerrillas Off Lebanon Coast

An Israeli patrol vessel destroyed a powerboat carrying Arab guerrillas near Israel’s northern border late Saturday, killing at least two attackers, the army said.

The guerrilla team fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the navy gunboat about 10 p.m. off Ras el Biyada, two miles north of the border and near the headquarters of the U.N peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, the military said in a statement.

“It was headed to destroy targets in Israel,” a spokesman said on condition of anonymity. The army statement said the speedboat was traveling at 30 knots in the direction of Israel’s border before it was intercepted by air and ground forces.

The military said at least two guerrillas were sighted in the speedboat before troops opened fire, sinking the boat. However, the army did not identify the guerrillas or say whether they belonged to Palestinian or Lebanese groups. Various guerrilla groups operate in South Lebanon.

No group claimed responsibility for the apparent raid. No Israeli casualties were reported.

On May 30, guerrillas belonging to the Palestine Liberation Front faction of the PLO attempted to attack an Israeli beach south of Tel Aviv. Israeli forces foiled the raid, killing four guerrillas and capturing 12.

The attack prompted the United States to suspend its dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization until PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat condemns the attack and disciplines the leader of the Palestine Liberation Front, Mohammed Abbas, better known as Abul Abbas.

Also on Saturday, in the Dead Sea resort of Ein Gedi in Israel, a pipe bomb exploded in a trash can on a crowded beach, wounding four people, including two West German tourists, officials and witnesses said.

Negev Police Cmdr. Shlomo Arnishkin told Israel army radio that Palestinian terrorists were behind the attack, and Negev police spokesman Shalom Ben Hemo said officers detained dozens of Arabs.

However, there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The explosion occurred at the Ein Gedi campgrounds, a popular beach area that is frequented by tourists and run by the Ein Gedi collective farm, or kibbutz. The area is just south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, scene of a 30-month-old Palestinian uprising.

Ben Hemo said three of the victims, including a West German tourist, were sent by ambulance to Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital. The fourth victim, the second German tourist, received first aid at the kibbutz infirmary, Hemo said.

Hadassah hospital spokeswoman Ruth Mekel said two Israelis and a German tourist were taken there with leg, arm and back injuries but could give no further details.

Israel army radio said the hospitalized German was in good condition; the condition of the Israelis was not immediately available.

Nissim Uzana Edrian, a witness interviewed on the Israeli army radio, said the explosives were inside a black bag thrown into a garbage can.

“The bomb exploded when all the people were on the beach and not really aware of what was happening,” he said. “I helped the wounded (who) were losing a lot of blood.”