The Palestine Chronology

Military Action:

Phalange and Druze militia exchange artillery and rocket fire during night and morning in Shweifat, Baabda, Aley and Bhamdoun; lDF sets up checkpoints on Beirut-Damascus highway to divert traffic from areas of fighting.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Chief of Staff Eitan tells Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that 117 IDF were killed in western Lebanon, 8 in Beirut, that Begin denied Eitan's request during war for 2 more hours to cross Beirut-Damascus highway and destroy Syrian T-72 tank group, that critics such as Yossi Sarid and Shulamit Aloni harmed the war effort by talking about number of Palestinian homeless and refugees; Shamir and Kimche meet for 2'h4 hours with Habib and Draper; Sharon arrives in Zaire; 1DF spokeswoman confirms 10 Israeli Druze soldiers were jailed for defying orders in South Lebanon; Knesset votes 46-44 not to censure Kiryat Arba Council for destroying 4 of Hebron municipality's electricity pylons; Elias Freij and Rashad Shawa say they are willing to be members of a Palestinian-Jordanian delegation in peace talks with Israel.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: After 3 days of meetings in Damascus, PLO Executive Committee does not give Arafat support for alliance with Jordan; Lebanese Government insists end to state of war must be linked to complete Israeli withdrawal; Foreign Minister Elie Salem says another month or 2 of intensive discussion necessary to clear differences with Israel, he is confident Syrian and Palestinian forces will leave when Israelis leave, Lebanon is prepared to guarantee it will never again be base of operations against Israel, calls for multinational force and UNIFIL to double in size; Prime Minister Wazzan asks Justice Minister Roger Shikhani to investigate missing persons and to speed up interrogation of hundreds of detainees.

US and Other Countries: State Department says that Carter and Ford rightly focus on settlements as obstacle, but they are not the major obstacle to peace, and refuse to call settlements illegal; Weinberger and French Defense Minister Charles Hernu hold talks in Washington, Hernu says France will increase its contingent in Lebanon and take on more responsibility after the withdrawal of Syrian, Israeli and Palestinian forces, providing US and Italy do the same.

UN: Security Council votes to extend mandate of 5,800 UNIFIL troops for another 6 months; Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Blum says UNIFL has outlived its usefulness; US delegate says UNIFIL is a positive element in the negotiations.

Military Action:

IDF ambushed in Tyre.

Casualties:

Some IDF wounded in Tyre; Ansar review committee recommends release of 150, 1,100 cases heard out of 5,400 detainees, review committee established under the Fourth Geneva Convention on civilians as Israel does not recognize detainees as POWs covered under Third Geneva Convention.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Sharon, Shamir and chief negotiator David Kimche meet for 2 hours with Habib and Draper, discussion focuses on 3 main differences between US and Israel (surveillance stations, UNIFIL, role of Saad Haddad); Commission of Inquiry completes 3?/2 months of investigation covering 49 witnesses, 152 eyewitnesses, 65 hours of testimony, 17,703 pages of transcript, closing with oral arguments of lawyers for 9 senior officials (Sharon, Eitan, Drori, Yaron, Dudai and Mossad head); Begin meets with head of Association for Prevention of Emigration, agrees to consider setting up ministerial committee to combat emigration (now 200,000 Israelis in the US alone); Israeli Foreign Ministry paying $5,000 per month rent on Saudi-owned villa along Beirut-Damascus high-way as Lebanon headquarters; Education Ministry setting up a committee to review curriculum in Arab schools and examine educational, psychological and social causes for growing extremism among Palestinian Israeli youth; Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Rakah) candidates win election of Arab student committees in Tel Aviv and Haifa universities; army uses tear gas and warning shots to disperse demonstrators in Hebron protesting arrest on Jan. 13 of 50 students, including entire student council, from Islamic University; Cabinet settlement committee votes to set up 2 new settlements in West Bank near Hebron, and 2 across green line in same area, approves referral center for prospective settlers.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: PLO Executive Committee, chaired by Arafat, meets in Damascus to plan for PNC; Walid Jumblatt criticizes compromise agenda in talks as concession to Israeli and US terms; Lebanese Forces Commander Fadi Frem urges Government to sign peace treaty with Israel to liberate Lebanon from psychological and political domination of Syria.

Arab Governments: Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmad Taleb Ibrahimi says Alteria purchased $20 million worth of arms direct from USSR for PLO in June, and later sent another 2 planeloads from Algiers; Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries reportedly removing British firms from list of eligible contractors due to dispute over PLO representative in Arab League delegation; Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah in Damascus for talks with Assad.