Jets Downed

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32036, 10 July 1969, Page 17

Jets Downed

(N.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright) TEL AVIV, July 9. Israeli aircraft shot down seven Syrian MiG 21 jets in a 30-minute air battle yesterday, suffering no losses, an Israeli Army spokesman announced.

But in Damascus, a military spokesman said only three Syrian aircraft were downed and Syrian pilots downed four Israeli jets. It was the fourth air battle in a week, United Press International reported, and the biggest between Israeli and Syrian forces since the end of the 1967 six-day war. It brought to 34 the number of Arab planes Israel has reported shooting down since then.

The fight represented another major escalation of the Middle East conflict which the United Nations Secretary-General (U Thant) told the Security Council on Monday had turned into “open warfare.” Meanwhile a senior Israeli General Staff officer said in Tel Aviv yesterday that the war situation would inevitably become more tense and might lead to military operations on a larger scale by Arab forces. The officer told a press conference: “Inevitably, it will be a long, hot summer. “The Arab armies have completed their rehabilitation, there is no political solu-

tion in sight, internal public opinion is pressing the Arab Governments, and the Fedayeen (guerrillas) are vying for prestige, glamour and glory with their Arab leaders and Arab Governments.”