National Salvation Front attacks Lebanese Air Force base at Jbeil with estimated 50 Katyushas, no damage to planes reported; Air Force bombs anti- government artillery and...
Syrians and Israelis exchange tank and mortar fire east of Beirut for first time in 4 months; gun battles in Tripoli between rival militias; Beirut offices of Arab...
Rival militias battle in Tripoli; Druze militia surrounds Lebanese Army barracks in Hammana, warns army and police to keep off roads in Chouf mountains; in response to...
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SOCIAL POLITICAL:
Occupied Palestine/Israel: 24-day dock workers' strike ends with workers accepting 25% pay increase, but with higher work quotas and worker layoffs.
MILITARY ACTION:
Occupied Palestine/Israel: 3 Palestinian-owned cars set ablaze in E. Jerusalem; no response from fire dep't.; police respond after 45 mins.; Israeli vigilantes suspected.
Arab World: At least 2 killed by Israeli air raids in S. Lebanon. Israeli soldiers ransack mosque in Lebanese village of Aadlun, triggering religious pratests and general strike there.
Military Action:
National Salvation Front attacks Lebanese Air Force base at Jbeil with estimated 50 Katyushas, no damage to planes reported; Air Force bombs anti- government artillery and troop positions near Souq al-Gharb and Aabadiye; LAF units hold positions at Souq al-Gharb and Kaifun under heavy rocket and artillery fire; Amal militia and LAF fight 6-hour battle in southern Beirut suburbs.
Casualties:
5-16 civilians killed, 13-42 wounded, vehicles and buildings damaged in rocket attack on Jbeil.
Political Responses:
Israel/Occupied Territories: Demonstrations in West Bank and Israel commemorate Sabra and Shatila massacres, 25 Palestinians and Israelis arrested in East Jerusalem.
Casualties:
Haddad says Israel should release most of the Lebanese nationals being held at Ansar detention camp.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Minaret of unused Hassan Bek mosque in Jaffa collapses, neglect and/or explosives suspected, Tel Aviv authorities and Ministry of Religious Affairs blame each other, Muslim groups hold vigil; stones thrown at military patrols in Dura, Yatta and Husan; partial strike in East Jerusalem schools; 2 Israeli cars stoned in Beit Jalla; 3 tourists, 4 Israelis injured by stones; curfews imposed in Dahariya, Nablus and Balata camp.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat and Hussein hold two rounds of talks, no statement issued; Hussein and Reagan confer by telephone.
Military Action:
Syrians and Israelis exchange tank and mortar fire east of Beirut for first time in 4 months; gun battles in Tripoli between rival militias; Beirut offices of Arab Deterrent Force closed, premises handed over to Lebanese Army.
Casualties:
Lebanese doctor shot and killed at roadblock by Fiji UNIFIL soldier in South Lebanon; 3 killed, including Syrian soldier, 6 wounded in Tripoli.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Land Day demonstrations in Israel, West Bank, Gaza, 3,000 extra police on duty; 10-20,000 make Land Day march from Sakhnin to Deir Hanna; tear gas fired at demonstrators in Sakhnin; Peace Now demonstrates outside government exhibition in Tel Aviv of residential construction and housing finance opportunities for Jews on the West Bank; Labor Party chairman Peres says position of Haddad forces must not be infringed by troop withdrawal agreement, Israel should not submit to any preconditions, such as settlement freeze, prior to peace talks with Hussein; Habib meets Arens and Shamir who reject notion that Lebanese Army, without Haddad, can provide effective security on northern border; 7 year-old boy killed, 2 children wounded in Shefar Am when hand grenade they find explodes; commercial strike in East Jerusalem; IDF shoots, kills 18 year-old in Tarqumiya, near Hebron, during demonstration; curfews imposed in Nablus, 4 refugee camps; 2 molotov cocktails thrown at IDF vehicles in West Bank; 2 molotov cocktails thrown at IDF vehicles in West Bank; 2 grenades thrown at IDF vehicles in Gaza; 13 persons injured by stones; Al-Fajr editor-in-chief arrested; director of West Bank public health services says clinical symptoms of 53 girls from Arraba, taken ill on March 21, point to something more than a case of mass hysteria.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat, in Damascus, tells rally he rejects Reagan plan, and Fez summit resolutions are only basis for solution to Palestine problem.
US and Other Countries: Soviet Union accuses Israel of planning a piratic strike against Syria, warns it would be playing with fire.
Military Action:
Rival militias battle in Tripoli; Druze militia surrounds Lebanese Army barracks in Hammana, warns army and police to keep off roads in Chouf mountains; in response to attacks by Lebanese National Resistance, IDF steps up security in and around Sidon; Syrian small-arms fire directed at IDF fortification on eastern front.
Casualties:
3 killed, many wounded in Tripoli fighting, shops close as armed men roam streets; 3 wounded by Nabatiyeh car bomb.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: 12 Bedouin men begin hunger strike in Israel to protest harassment by Green Patrol, demand talks with Ministry of Agriculture; Central Bureau of Statistics figures show $557m. trade deficit for first 2 months of 1983, nearly 20% higher than 1982; trial begins of two Kiryat Arba officials charged with illegal possession of explosives and destroying evidence police believe may be connected with June 1980 bomb attacks on West Bank mayors; 2 IDF injured by stones during incidents in East Jerusalem and Ramallah; general strike in Ramallah; Nablus market under curfew; Birzeit University reopens; 3 Birzeit students beaten, 1 detained by settlers; IDF uses helicopters to patrol West Bank; 35 Gaza youths sentenced by military tribunal to fines and suspended prison sentences for disturbing the peace by throwing stones last week; 6 teenagers in Ramallah sentenced to 6 to 8 months imprisonment and fined $400 to $900 for participating in recent disturbances; 3 girls in Ramallah convicted of stone-throwing, fined up to $2800 and given suspended prison terms; youth arrested in Jerusalem for wearing shirt in colors of Palestinian flag; special prayers held at Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques to protest plot by Jewish zealots, uncovered by police last week, to seize Temple Mount.
Arab Governments: Egyptian-Israeli talks on normalization of trade and commercial relations, suspended since June, resume in Cairo.
US and Other Countries: Foreign Minister Salem tells Shultz and other officials in Washington, that Lebanese Army is capable of controlling all Lebanon, Israeli military presence is unnecessary; Shultz and Shamir meet for 5 hours, focus on possible use of international troops and increased US presence to meet Israeli security concerns in South Lebanon; Shamir delegation meets with Reagan, Bush, Weinberger, Shultz, Habib and Draper, Reagan reportedly emphasizes urgency of Israeli agreement to withdrawal terms; 10 IDF touring US to offset impression that Lebanon campaign was overly aggressive; US Ambassador to UN Kirkpatrick, in Israel for conference on Soviet Jewry, meets Begin; former President Carter meets King Hussein in Amman, says Israeli settlements in West Bank are illegal and an obstacle to peace.
