Fatah, which has merged with smaller groups to form the PLO, carries out its first military operation on December 31, 1964.

Yasser 'Arafat leads a band of guerillas in a night crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel.

Armed with Soviet-made explosives, their uniforms supplied by the Syrians, they advance toward their target: a pump for conveying Galilee water to the Negev desert.

This attempt to sabotage the Israeli National Water Carrier is unsuccessful, however, as the explosives fail to detonate.