890th Paratroop Battalion
The following year, 26 May 1954, Har-Zion was amongst a ten-man squad from the newly formed 890th Paratroop Battalion, led by its commander Arik Sharon, which carried out a raid near Khirbet Jinba, south west of Hebron. Two National Guardsmen were killed in an ambush as well as two farmers and two camels. Sharett once again complained about not being informed and suspected that Minister of Defence Pinhas Lavon had not been consulted either.
On 27–28 June 1954 Har-Zion was in a seven man squad led by Major Aharon Davidi that launched a surprise attack on an Arab Legion camp at Azzun, 13 km east of Qalqilya. Three Legionnaires were killed as well as a farmer, Rafi'a Abdel Aziz Omar, who was stabbed to death by Har-Zion to prevent him raising the alarm. On their return to Israeli lines one of the team who had been wounded, Sergeant Yitzhak Jibli, was left behind. On discovering that Sergeant Jibli had been taken prisoner Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan approved a series hostage taking raids.
On 31 July – 1 August 1954 Har-Zion led a group of ten raiders who attacked two policemen near Jenin, taking one of them prisoner. On their way back they killed a farmer watching his fields. On the 30–31 August 1954 Har-Zion took part in Operation Binyamin 2. This operation was approved by Prime Minister Moshe Sharett and was commanded by Ariel Sharon. The attackers were divided into four groups. The first attacked a school building in the village of Beit Liqya. The other three set ambushes for the expected arrival of reinforcements. Only Har-Zion's group were successful. They had strung a wire across the road with cans of petrol at each end. A car full of soldiers from the Arab Legion drove into the trap. Two were killed, one wounded and three taken prisoner. Jibli was released on 29 October 1954.
Read more about this topic: Meir Har-Zion