Late this evening, 2 mbrs. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) infiltrate an IDF post nr. Gush Katif settlement in Gaza, attack the barracks with hand grenades and...
Grenade thrown at IDF convoy near Sidon; IDF reports 4 other attacks on its positions over weekend; Syrian forces maintain encirclement of loyalist PLO positions.
Druze militia and Lebanese Army exchange fire in Beirut; IDF vehicle attacked by bazooka fire west of Ansar camp.
Casualties:
Maronite archbishop of Tyre...
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Late this evening, 2 mbrs. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) infiltrate an IDF post nr. Gush Katif settlement in Gaza, attack the barracks with hand grenades and automatic weapons fire, killing 3 IDF soldiers and wounding 7 before they are killed. In response, the IDF sends 16 tanks, heavy equipment deep into Rafah to bulldoze the PSF headquarters, take over several small PSF posts, killing 1 PSF officer, wounding 2 Palestinians; troops pull out after a few hrs. Earlier, mbrs. of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB) open fire on a car outside Givat Ze'ev in the West Bank, killing 3 Jewish settlers, wounding 2 children. (BBC 8/25; HA, JP [Internet], NYT, WP, WT 8/26; HA 8/27; SA 8/27 in WNC 8/28; MEI 8/31; JP 9/7)
Military Action:
Grenade thrown at IDF convoy near Sidon; IDF reports 4 other attacks on its positions over weekend; Syrian forces maintain encirclement of loyalist PLO positions.
Casualties:
2 IDF soldiers wounded in grenade attack.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Grand Mufti of Jerusalem issues statement urging PLO rebels to support Arafat, promises martyr status to any Muslim who assassinates Assad; 700 West Bank representatives of student, professional, political and trade union organizations meet at Al-Aqsa mosque, criticize Syrian and Libyan intervention in Palestinian affairs, call on rebels to support present PLO leadership; Habib arrives in Israel for talks with Begin, Shamir, Arens, reportedly will seek to delay IDF redeployment until Begin-Reagan meeting on July 27.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat returns to Tunis; PFLP official calls Arafat expulsion from Syria an insult to the entire PLO; PFLP and DFLP, split since 1969, announce merger to enhance unity of PLO.
Arab Governments: Syria describes Arafat as a defeatist who has chosen the path of the wilderness.
Military Action:
IDF building new roads in South and East Lebanon, bypassing villages; IDF constructing new fortifications in Bekaa.
Casualties:
IDF arrests Lebanese suspected of participation in guerrilla attacks.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Military statistics for year ending March 31 show increase in West Bank incidents of 69% over previous year, rise in use of molotov cocktails and grenades, 4417 street disturbances (increase of 79%), 35 schools closed, 66 towns, villages and camps subjected to curfews, 2 Israelis killed, 174 injured, 11 Palestinians killed, 90 injured; policeman to stand trial on torture charges after investigation of complaints by Arraba resident; Attorney General refuses to make public the Karp report on Jewish vigilantism in West Bank; Cabinet economic decisions will raise cost of imports by 7.5%, levy .3% tax on cash withdrawals from banks as partial means of financing Lebanon occupation; 8 Jewish religious students arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of vandalizing Arab home near their yeshiva; 2 Gaza Strip Arabs sentenced to life imprisonment for grenade attack on Israeli bus in which 8 passengers were injured.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Christian and Druze leaders meeting this week to ratify truce agreement covering Chouf region, terms include entry of Lebanese Army assisted by MNF as peacekeeping force, removal of roadblocks and exchange of prisoners, temporary amnesry, reconstruction assistance for damaged villages; PFLP and DFLP seek to mediate rebellion within Fateh.
Arab Governments: Syrian President Assad forms government committee to mediate Fateh rebellion, Syrian troops reinforce guard around main PLO offices and institutions in Damascus.
US and Other Countries: US defense sources say both Israel and Syria have received US aerial reconnaissance photos since 1976; former Israeli Defense Minister Sharon, accompanied by numerous bodyguards, arrives at Montreal airport under massive security precautions.
Military Action:
Druze militia and Lebanese Army exchange fire in Beirut; IDF vehicle attacked by bazooka fire west of Ansar camp.
Casualties:
Maronite archbishop of Tyre kidnapped by Druze forces, later released after intercession of President Gemayel; between 83 and 104 kidnap victims exchanged, estimated 25 remain unaccounted for in Chouf; Lebanese Army arrests 17 Druze militiamen after Beirut battle; 1 IDF soldier killed, 1 wounded in bazooka attack; IDF releases 3 Syrian detainees from Ansar for health reasons.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: PM Begin opposes deadline for Syrian withdrawal or for unilateral IDF redeployment; IDF and Interior Ministry agree to establish 2 new border police companies, of 100 each, in West Bank; Health Ministry issues doctors with back to work orders, threatens to put them under military orders, doctors agree to resume negotiations; suspect in grenade attack that killed Peace Now activist February 10 remanded for 15 days in Jerusalem.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: DFLP leader Hawatmeh says Syria should impose economic blockade on Lebanon to force Lebanese bourgeoisie to decide whether its true interests lie with Israel or the Arabs; Arafat says Qaddafi seeks to split Palestinian revolution, will not succeed; 5 dissident Fateh officers refuse orders placing them under Arafat's command.
US and Other Countries: Coalition of trade unionists, political figures, and Palestinians in Quebec sends telegram to Prime Minister Trudeau asking him to forbid former Israeli Defense Minister Sharon from entering Canada on June 1 for fund raising campaign.
