Israel/ Occupied Territories: Hundreds of former residents of Birim, Maronite village on Israel's northern border evacuated in 1948, call on government to allow them to...
US Marines begin to leave Lebanon (Italian troops scheduled to depart tomorrow, French legionnaires by end of next week); Israeli reconnaissance flights over Beirut;...
Israelis move troops experienced in street fighting into hills around West Beirut; IDF artillery repeatedly shells Syrian positions near Hammana.
Casualties:
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Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Hundreds of former residents of Birim, Maronite village on Israel's northern border evacuated in 1948, call on government to allow them to return now that security prevails, government reportedly will not agree to setting precedent since estimated 50,000 Arabs in Israel might also demand return to their original homes; another outbreak of mass sickness on West Bank causes hospitalization of 164 girls from Tulkarm and Anabta, 240 in Yatta; results of International Red Cross investigation of illnesses, released by Israeli Health Ministry, indicate no evidence of poison or toxic material, conclude that epidemic is mass phenomenon devoid of danger; curfew imposed in Yatta, 6 other areas; 2 IDF soldiers, border policeman, and 2 Nablus residents wounded by hand-grenade in Nablus; Israeli bank ransacked during protest demonstrations in Tulkarm; Israeli targets stoned in other West Bank towns; 18 year-old boy shot in arm and stomach by settler driving past al-Arub refugee camp, police question settler and impound his rifle; 2 Israelis injured by stones in Qalqilya; 2 Arab youths injured when Israeli driver swerves his car into group throwing stones; 65 year-old Jerusalem woman hospitalized after being beaten and stabbed, members of Jewish religious school seeking to take over her property are suspected; IDF investigating 2 settler-related shooting incidents in Hebron and Nablus areas; Muslim religious leaders call students to hold protest gathering at Dome of Rock against last year's Easter attack by Israeli soldier; police use teargas to disperse demonstration near Damascus Gate, 8 arrested; police prevent group of 50 Jewish religious nationalists, including Meir Kahane, from entering Temple Mount, group then holds prayers outside gates; teenage nephew of Kahane arrested after firing Uzi at Palestinian demonstrators.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat and Hussein hold third round of talks, Arafat tells news conference he is still committed to Fez summit resolutions, Farouk Kaddoumi says Reagan plan is not a vehicle for negotiation, Abujihad says PLO is not giving a mandate to anyone.
Arab Governments: Mubarak, in Peking, urges PLO and King Hussein to enter talks on Reagan plan soon, before next US election campaign.
US and Other Countries: US diplomats in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem reportedly sceptical of official Israeli explanation of mass illnesses, point to fact that Israelis on West Bank displayed same symptoms.
Military Action:
US Marines begin to leave Lebanon (Italian troops scheduled to depart tomorrow, French legionnaires by end of next week); Israeli reconnaissance flights over Beirut; Israeli tanks remain in port area in violation of Habib agreement; IDF jeep ambushed in Central Lebanon.
Casualties:
3 IDF soldiers killed, 1 wounded in jeep ambush.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israeli government rejects Fez 8-point peace plan as worse than Fahd plan put forward in 1981 (calls on Arab states to sign individual peace treaties with Israel); Yitzhak Shamir dismisses Fez plan as "renewed declaration of war on Israel"; anti-Israeli slogans painted on walls and PLO flags displayed in Kawkab in Galilee; land near Dura, west of Hebron, confiscated; Nablus Mayor Shakaa criticizes Fez summit as unimplementable.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Lebanese Muslim leaders concerned about IDF failure to withdraw from Beirut prior to departure of multinational force, Wazzan's request for force to extend its stay is rejected by US.
Arab Governments: King Hassan of Morocco says goal of Fez peace plan is "state of non-belligerency" with Israel and, in distant future, normal relations.
US and Other Countries: Shultz, before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says Fez summit proposal is positive opening move toward new negotiations, could be "breakthrough" if it implies Arab willingness to recognize Israel, also says US defines "autonomy" to include land and resources, supports participation by East Jerusalem residents in future elections in occupied territories; Vatican announces Arafat may have private audience with Pope John Paul II during Rome visit next week.
Military Action:
Israelis move troops experienced in street fighting into hills around West Beirut; IDF artillery repeatedly shells Syrian positions near Hammana.
Casualties:
Hundreds live in Beirut parks, lacking food, water, medicine and basic hygiene; garbage piles up in West Beirut streets (most trucks are in East Beirut); more shops close throughout city as fear of IDF attack grows; Baalbek now has 35,000 refugees; Palestinian refugees reportedly receive less aid than Lebanese; Israeli unsubsidized prices for sales to Lebanon about 3 times Lebanese prices.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Former head of Israeli military intelligence, in US, says casualty figures inflated; Israeli Knesset debate ends with Likud/Labor parties agreeing not to vote against each other's resolutions, only to vote for their own; Begin offers to let PLO leave with personal weapons (claims Reagan said USSR might intervene if there were a war with Syria); Sharon says he informed Haig, Weinberger that IDF invasion of Lebanon was virtually inevitable 2 weeks before actual invasion; Sharon announces 271 Israelis killed, 1470 wounded, 13 missing; government charges UN schools used by PLO for training, as arsenals; reports that IDF used new anti-tank weapon similar to US Sadarm; Sharon speaks at Knesset on scope/aims of war (Peres strongly opposes any entry into Beirut); government officials accuse Habib of false optimism; Israeli Cabinet ratifies June 27 ultimatum, but softens departure possibilities (by land or sea); 4 reservists call on Sharon to resign, call on other released soldiers to join their vigil; 600 demonstrate in favor of war; 30 protest effect of war on the poor in Israel; petition with signatures of 40 who fought in Lebanon printed opposing war; Supreme Islamic Council of Jerusalem states support for PLO, denounces silence of Arab regimes.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: Habib meets with Wazzan, Butros; Lebanese disagree on whether PLO leaders can return to Lebanon to visit; Lebanese papers attack USSR, accusing it of complicity with US; Druze leader Jumblatt expects attack on Beirut within 24- 36 hours, predicts coexistence of Muslims, Christians in Lebanon is finished; Bashir Gemayel predicts Israel and Syria will have full-scale war; reports of de facto strike in Sidon area following Israeli mistreatment; Phalangists reject plan to incorporate PLO units into Lebanese Army, Phalangist troops enter Aley, threaten to kill 12 Druze (Druze leader is killed by Phalange members, allegedly mistakenly); PLO stiffens demands as talks deadlocked over timing and method of PLO withdrawal (PLO seeks own police in refugee camps, PLO units attached to Lebanese Army); Arafat addresses PLO rally; Fateh Central Committee reportedly says no more concessions.
Arab Governments: Saudi Arabia reportedly explores flying PLO out of Lebanon; Egypt sends Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ghali to Paris for talks.
US and Other Countries: US expressed satisfaction with cease-fire; former US envoy to Lebanon, Dean Brown, says US blessed IDF invasion, that Reagan does not know much about the Mideast and "probably does not want to know"; EEC calls for PLO to be involved in peace negotiations, asks immediate IDF withdrawal (arms sales informally suspended to Israel); Austrian Jewish group presents open letter to Israeli Ambassador decrying invasion, asking for peace negotiations with Palestinians; International Socialist delegation, headed by former Portuguese prime minister Soares, visits mayor of Bethlehem; EEC refuses to sign £22 million financial protocol with Israel (does not agree on trade sanctions); Habib requests formal guidance from Washington for negotiations, Haig drafts 9-point proposal in response.
