Isreali Golani Brigade Commandos and Syria's 82nd Airborne Regiment
Battle of Mt Harmon (1974 April 14)
The 9,200‐foot‐high mountain straddles the borders of Israel, Syria and
Lebanon. It dominates the entire area and provides a commanding view of the
Damascus plain, the Golan Heights and Northern Israel.
The side that controls the peak would be able to track all the
aircraft in the Damascus area and call in artillery anywhere on the Golan
Heights.
In the early days of the October war, a helicopter‐borne Syrian force
overran, an Israeli position just below the peak. It was a major coup for the
Syrians, who also carried away sophisticated electronic equipment from the
position. According to foreign reports that have never been denied here, the
equipment had been provided and installed by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Summit Unoccupied
The Israeli forces retook the
position on the last night of the war and also occupied second Syrian
position, about 200 yards closer to the peak. The actual rocky summit is
unoccupied, mainly because of the lack of natural protection. It is routinely
buffeted by galeforce winds and is covered with snow much of the year.
For the last several days, the Syrians, have mounted a number of determined efforts to establish a position on the peak itself. They have brought up heavy earth‐moving equipment, presumably in an effort to open a road to the summit that could be used by tanks and other armored equipment. Their latest assault began late last night. The Israelis reported spotting a Syrian commando force, estimated at about 30 men, moving toward the peak about midnight. Israeli artillery began shelling the area about 2:30 A.M. According to a military spokesman, an Israeli unit searching the area encountered Syrians about two hours later. A heavy fight developed, and at about 7 A.M. Israeli Air Force planes were called in against Syrian artillery positions that were providing covering fire for the commandos. When the fighting finally subsided, the spokesman said, the bodies of 12 Syrian commandos were found in the snow. Later in the morning the Syrians opened fire with Katyusha rockets against Israeli positions on the Hermon flank and in the southern part of the occupied Golan area. Israeli artillery returned the fire, but a military source said that a deliberate effort was made to avoid escalating the exchange unnecessarily. “We want to keep this to minimum,” the source explained; “and avoid putting any more strain on the cease‐fire than we have to to protect ourselves.” Syrians Claim 4 Planes DAMASCUS, Syria, April 14 (Reuters)—Four Israeli planes were shot down by Syrian air defenses today, a Syrian military spokesman said. He also said that 12 Syrians were killed and eight wounded in the fiercest fighting on the Golan Heights since the October war. The sound of artillery could be heard in Damascus, about 25 miles from the Golan front. The spokesman said that three of the Israeli planes were seen falling in flames to the west—probably in Israeli‐held territory—but he did not say where the fourth plane, a French‐built Mirage, was sup. posed to have gone down. The Syrian spokesman said Syrian forces had foiled an Israeli attack on Mount Hermon and opened up heavy artillery and tank‐gunfire at enemy positions along the entire front. The spokesman said that several Israeli positions and military installations had been destroyed. He charged that the Israelis shelled civilian targets In Syria and that two houses had, been destroyed in the village of Ain Tina Israelis Deny Reports TEL AVIV, April 14 (Reuters) —An Israeli Army spokesman denied Damascus reports that four Israeli planes had been shot down in operations on the Syrian front today. The spokesman said that all planes employed in operations on Mount Hermon had returned safely to base. |
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