Occupied Palestine/Israel: Kach demonstrators march on Umm al-Fahm trying to establish Arab "emigration" office there; counter demonstration joined by local...
Israel/ Occupied Territories: US envoy Habib and Prime Minister Begin hold 90 minute meeting during which Habib presents Begin with letter from Reagan; Defense Minister...
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Major Haddad, in testimony before Commission of Inquiry, denies his militiamen were involved in massacre, says three militiamen caught in...
Read more
Social/Economic/Political
Occupied Palestine/Israel: Kach demonstrators march on Umm al-Fahm trying to establish Arab "emigration" office there; counter demonstration joined by local Palestinians and Jewish sympathizers; police intervene to forestall violence.
Arab World: Pierre Gemayel dies of heart attack in Lebanon.
Other Countries: UN Security Council hears Lebanon's case against Israeli actions in S. Lebanon.
Military Action
Occupied Palestine/Israel: IDF reveals new upgraded Soviet T-54 & T-55 tanks adapted from those captured in wars with Arab armies.
Arab World: IDF armored convoys advance north of Awali River in new offensive against resistance. 3 IDF troops wounded by roadside bomb near Marjayoun.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: US envoy Habib and Prime Minister Begin hold 90 minute meeting during which Habib presents Begin with letter from Reagan; Defense Minister Sharon postpones departure to Zaire, takes 100 Herut Party members on tour of Israeli military positions in Lebanon, Sharon meets Saad Haddad in Marjayoun, says any peace agreement will have a role for Haddad as he is trustworthy friend of Israel; Sharon holds afternoon press conference in Kiryat Shemona, simultaneously with official press conference announcing agreement on Lebanon talks agenda, creating tension with Foreign Minister Shamir, Sharon notes de facto normalization has preceded diplomatic normalization, that since Nov. 15, 12,000 people and 1,100 vehicles have entered Ilsrael from Lebanon and 1,100 Israeli vehicles transported goods to Lebanon; Labor Party political bureau approves Histadrut companies involvement in construction of settlements in occupied territories; Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai urges strong posture on US pressure, says control of Judea and Samaria is vital for security; Civil Administration declares as state land 20,000 dunums in Dahariya, south of Hebron, gives Palestinians 21 days to appeal, area planned for land reserve along 1967 green line; 30 Kach members break into Hebron home of Moshe Levinger, demanding that Meir Kahane's Kach settlement nearby receive support and services from Kiryat Arba as does Levinger's group in Hebron.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: PLO Chairman Arafat in Moscow press conference releases communique that Soviet Union shows understanding of the PLO position on confederation on the basis of voluntarity between an independent Palestinian state and Jordan; following Habib-Begin meeting, Israel and Lebanon, in talks held in Kiryat Shemona, agree on agenda for talks (including concurrent discussion on "termination of the state of war; security arrangements; framework for mutual relations, including issues such as liaison, ending hostile propaganda, the movement of goods, products and persons, communications, etc.; program of complete withdrawals, conditions for Israeli withdrawal, within the context of the evacuation of all foreign forces; possible guarantees"); Lebanese Parliament delegation visits Amman seeking Jordanian support in talks with Israel.
Arab Governments: Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, at non-aligned conference in Nicaragua, says Syria will resist any agreement which does not call for Israeli withdrawal from all occupied territories and does not recognize inalienable rights of Palestinians.
US and Other Countries: Pentagon refuses to sign draft agreement on US access to Israeli military data due to unreasonable restrictions; secret plan revealed for mini-Rapid Deployment Force in Jordan to guard internal stability, respond to emergencies in friendly Gulf States, and possible use in inter-Arab wars; Henry Kissinger says Lebanon crisis has consequences helpful to prospects for peace, shows USSR can supply arms but not solutions, rout of PLO restores US military credibility; Representative Council of French Jewry protests French Middle East policy, says Foreign Minister Cheysson's recent statements show anti-Israel bias, asks government to close PLO Paris office and expel PLO representative Ibrahim Suss.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Major Haddad, in testimony before Commission of Inquiry, denies his militiamen were involved in massacre, says three militiamen caught in fight involving IDF and Druze forces near Beirut at time were far from camps and in Beirut on private visit, says on Friday, September 17, he flew to Beirut on IDF aircraft to offer condolences to Gemayel family, visited Jounieh, then returned by car to Marjayoun, accuses Saeb Salam of covering up for Phalangists on orders from Saudi Arabia by blaming Haddad forces; Foreign Ministry official Hana Bar-On testifies he relayed US official's report on "irregularities" in Beirut camps to Begin's military secretary, Colonal Azriel Nevo, Friday evening, September 17; political storm rages over New York Times opinion piece that implies Labor Party leaders want US to reduce aid to Israel as means to pressure Begin but Peres denies Labor Party supports cut in US aid; two leaders of Gush Emunim settlement of Qiryat Arba charged with destroying possible clues to unsolved bombings that crippled two Palestinian Mayors in 1980, trial is set for December 9; 25,000 Israeli settlers now estimated living in occupied territories, is twice as many as in 1980, five times as many as in 1977; Knesset finance committee defers decision on funding 9 new settlements (Labor Party criticizes 8 planned for West Bank, and IDF outposts in territories being turned over to right-wing Kach).
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Walid Jumblatt, in interview, accuses Phalange of planning massacres of Druze and says talks are useless; Phalange spokesman Hayek denies charge, says Phalange militiamen only seeking to return to their former villages in Chouf.
Arab Governments: King Hussein, ending Arab League delegation visit to France, accuses Israel of holding up peace process through continued West Bank settlements, refusal to consider Reagan peace proposals, says question of Israel's eventual borders remains major obstacle to peace; Syrian President Assad tells visiting US Congressional delegation that Reagan plan is "incomplete" solution.
US and Other Countries: Habib leaves several days early for Mideast in wake of cancellation of Begin-Reagan meeting, as State Department expresses concern at lack of progress on troop withdrawals; Shultz meets with Habib, Veliotes, Fairbanks, M. Charles Hill and Samuel W. Lewis to review lack of progress on peace plan; Britain announces Arab League mission planned to arrive next week has been postponed to December, and it will continue to refuse inclusion of PLO representative in delegation; West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, in New York, tells US Jewish leaders he intends to strengthen West German relations with Israel, and supports Camp David process.
