Israel on Heightened Alert; Jordan Steps Up Activity : Mideast: Jerusalem sends signals that it has no intention of attacking King Hussein’s nation.

JERUSALEM —  Senior Israeli military officers said Thursday that the nation’s armed forces are in a “stepped-up” state of alert, and they noted that the Jordanian army also appears to have accelerated its activity.

The quicker military pace came a day after the failure of the U.S.-Iraqi talks in Geneva to reach any accord on how to avert a military clash in the Persian Gulf. After those talks, Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz warned that if war breaks out in the gulf, Iraq will strike Israel.

A senior Israeli commander at the Jordan River border between Israel and Jordan said the Arab kingdom’s forces have stepped up their activity across the dusty river valley and in the dun-colored biblical hills beyond.

The paratrooper colonel in charge of the Israeli brigade told visiting reporters that “significant activity” involving Jordanian troops has been observed in the area. Officers reported “more patrols, more troops, more movement, more supplies coming down,” he said.

However, the colonel and other senior army officers said the new Jordanian dispositions appear to be defensive--guarding the east-west passes that lead from the Jordan River Valley through the hills to the Jordanian heartland.

Almost all the heavy tanks, they said, have been deployed well away from the border, on the plateau that stretches eastward toward the desert frontier with Iraq, intelligences sources said.

In Jerusalem, a senior government member revealed Thursday that “Jordan has been sent signals” at a high level that Israel has no intention of attacking King Hussein’s nation.

According to analysts, Israel hopes that Jordan, rather than becoming involved in the gulf conflict, will remain intact as a valuable buffer state between Israel and the radical Iraq.

Israeli jet warplanes flew constant missions along the border with Jordan on Thursday, and electronically equipped aircraft were reported aloft, monitoring the aerial activity in eastern Jordan and western Iraq.

The Jordan Valley is a critical boundary for Israel: Not only does it separate two armies that have been in a technical state of war since 1948, but it is also where Israel has positioned Hawk air defense batteries against the threat of Iraqi warplanes.

Meanwhile, the United Nations was busy evacuating families of staff members and some personnel to Cyprus.

About 200 people, among them about 100 children, boarded a chartered Boeing 707 at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Thursday. A second plane with 200 people was leaving later for Cyprus.

Several passengers said they hope to return soon.