Amr Ibrahim al-Batanony, one of the Egyptian soldiers who implemented the blowing up of Eilat port during the war of attrition with Israel, has passed away at the age of 73.
Batanony was born in February 1934 in Cairo, where he lived for two years before moving with his family to live in Alexandria.
Educated in San Mark College, Batanony graduated in 1962, then joined the Naval College and graduated in 1966. He became a navy officer in the naval troops special unit.
During the year-long bombardment of Israeli troops in the Suez canal that followed the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel's Red Sea port of Eilat was an important strategic point.
On February 6 1970, just after midnight, Batanony and a fellow member of the navy, Ali abu Reesha, infiltrated the ship Abu Sheifa to plant bombs. In a calculated modification of the Egyptian navy plan, they set the explosion to go off after two hours, not four as per orders.
At 2 a.m., the vessel exploded in Eilat port. By the time Israeli patrols started looking for the perpetrators, they had arrived at the coast of Jordan.
Throughout his whole life, Batanony was a keen sportsman, playing basketball and handball. For a period, he was the director of Alexandria Sporting Club.
Batanony has a son and daughter.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
