Arabs killed an Israeli soldier today in an attack along the Jordanian border. The incident began at about 7:00 AM when Arabs fired at an IDF unit stationed in the Northern Beit She’an Valley between the communities of Beit Yosef and Yardena. The IDF returned fire, and a fierce battle ensued. An Israeli soldier was seriously wounded in the head, and another was lightly wounded in the attack. An ambulance evacuated the soldier to nearby Yardena where he was airlifted to an area hospital. The IDF closed the main Jordan Valley highway between Tiberias and Beit-She’an to civilian traffic.
IDF forces then pursued the attackers into Jordanian territory where, in the course of intensive exchanges of gunfire, several other Israeli soldiers were wounded. One of the soldiers died after being transferred by helicopter to a hospital. A Jordanian spokesman denied that Israeli forces crossed the border into the Hashemite Kingdom. The warfare, according to the Jordanian official, took place exclusively on the Israeli side of the border.
In coordination with the Jordanian authorities, Israel Air Force helicopters bombed the area where the Arab gunmen were hiding. The Jordanians evacuated civilians from the area.
The border between Israel and Jordan has been relatively quiet in the years preceding and following the peace treaty which was signed between the two nations in 1994. In March 1997, seven Israeli schoolgirls were murdered and five others and a teacher were wounded when a Jordanian soldier shot them as they toured the Jordanian-controlled Naharayim enclave known as \"Peace Island.\" Jordanian authorities said then that the soldier was mentally disturbed.
This morning\'s skirmish is the second shooting attack that resulted in Israeli casualties in the last 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon Arabs shot 47-year-old Vitali Binus of Karnei Shomron as he was driving east of Netanya, between Shavei Shomron and Einav. Binus remains in critical but stable condition. He shot and killed one of his attackers but sustained five bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen after his car was riddled with 35 bullets.
In other war news, two grenades were thrown at IDF troops near Rafiah, on the Israeli border with Egypt… Arabs opened fire at an IDF patrol in the southern Hevron hills, in Judea, near the town of Otniel. Soldiers returned fire at the terrorists. No injuries were reported in these incidents.
IDF forces then pursued the attackers into Jordanian territory where, in the course of intensive exchanges of gunfire, several other Israeli soldiers were wounded. One of the soldiers died after being transferred by helicopter to a hospital. A Jordanian spokesman denied that Israeli forces crossed the border into the Hashemite Kingdom. The warfare, according to the Jordanian official, took place exclusively on the Israeli side of the border.
In coordination with the Jordanian authorities, Israel Air Force helicopters bombed the area where the Arab gunmen were hiding. The Jordanians evacuated civilians from the area.
The border between Israel and Jordan has been relatively quiet in the years preceding and following the peace treaty which was signed between the two nations in 1994. In March 1997, seven Israeli schoolgirls were murdered and five others and a teacher were wounded when a Jordanian soldier shot them as they toured the Jordanian-controlled Naharayim enclave known as \"Peace Island.\" Jordanian authorities said then that the soldier was mentally disturbed.
This morning\'s skirmish is the second shooting attack that resulted in Israeli casualties in the last 24 hours. Yesterday afternoon Arabs shot 47-year-old Vitali Binus of Karnei Shomron as he was driving east of Netanya, between Shavei Shomron and Einav. Binus remains in critical but stable condition. He shot and killed one of his attackers but sustained five bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen after his car was riddled with 35 bullets.
In other war news, two grenades were thrown at IDF troops near Rafiah, on the Israeli border with Egypt… Arabs opened fire at an IDF patrol in the southern Hevron hills, in Judea, near the town of Otniel. Soldiers returned fire at the terrorists. No injuries were reported in these incidents.